ROUND  THE  BLACK  MAN’S  GARDEN 


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ROUND  THE  BLACK  MAN’S 
GARDEN 


BY 

ZELIE  COLYILE,  F.E.G.S. 


WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS  FROM  BRA  WINGS  BY  THE  AUTHOR 
AND  FROM  PHOTOGRAPHS 


“  Qui  suit  son  cliemin 
Arrive  a  la  fin  ” 


WILLIAM  BLACKWOOD  AND  SONS 
EDINBURGH  AND  LONDON 
MDCCCXCIII 


All  Rights  reserved 


°U  G 

C?z?- 


04  mON  FRERE, 

ANDIl£  RICHAUD  DE  PREVIILE. 

Je  te  declie  ces  souvenirs,  a  toi  qui  came  tcint  les  ricits  de 
voyage,  et  dont  la  pensde  nous  a  sioivis  pas  d  pas  durant 
noire  promenade  de  huit  mois. 


ZELIE  COLVILE. 


301259 


PREFACE. 


I  am  sitting  in  a  bamboo  thatched  house  some 
twelve  feet  square,  perched  on  four  upright  poles, 
somewhat  after  the  manner  of  a  pigeon-loft,  and 
listening  to  verbose  explanations  in  three  lang¬ 
uages  on  the  positions  of  the  Lois,  Pums,  or  Taungs, 
as  mountains  are  called  by  Katchins,  Burmans,  or 
Shans  respectively.  My  stylographic  pen  has  just 
roiled  through  the  chinks  of  the  split  bamboo  floor, 
into  the  stew  which  Miguel,  my  Goa  “  boy,”  is  brew¬ 
ing  below,  and  Miguel’s  grumblings  would  have 
been  very  long-winded  but  for  the  timely  appear¬ 
ance  of  a  Katchin  runner,  who,  mounting  the 
notched  pole  by  which  my  front  door  is  approached, 
offers  me  a  paper  parcel  with  both  hands  as  if  it 
were  a  draught  of  water,  while  Miguel,  a  little  behind 


301259 


Vlll 


PREFACE. 


the  times,  exclaims,  through  the  floor,  “Postman 
coming,  sar !  ” 

The  packet  contains,  among  others,  a  letter  from 
my  wife  asking  me  to  write  a  Preface  to  her  book 
‘  Round  the  Black  Man’s  Garden.’ 

It  is  a  far  cry  from  a  hill-top  overlooking  China  to 
Afric’s  golden  strand,  and  the  intricacies  of  Katchin 
topography  have  pretty  well  banished  from  my 
mind  all  memories  of  our  African  coasting  trip. 
But  I  do  remember  that  it  was  I  who,  in  an  un¬ 
guarded  moment,  and  taking-  no  thought  for  the 
morrow,  suggested  the  title  while  the  late  Govern¬ 
ment  was  in  power ;  and  I  feel  that  the  least  I  can 
do  is  to  openly  avow  my  fault,  and  bow  my  devoted 
head  to  the  vials  of  wrath  wrhich  will  doubtless  be 
poured  on  it.  In  justice  to  myself,  I  must  say 
that,  on  the  result  of  the  late  general  election  being- 
made  public,  I  at  once  suggested  the  substitu¬ 
tion  of  “Gentleman  of  Colour ’’for  “Black  Man”; 
but  a  friend  of  my  wife’s  who  understands  English 
composition  and  those  sort  of  things,  said  the  title 
was  clumsy ;  an  artistic  acquaintance  of  mine  said 
black  was  not  a  colour  at  all ;  and  my  wife  objected 
that  she  could  not  describe  as  a  gentleman  a  person 
who  was  in  the  habit  of  hanging  his  relations,  by 
hooks  through  their  heels,  over  a  pit  full  of  spikes, 


PREFACE. 


IX 


as  some  one  she  met  at  Bonny  did.  Knowing 
nothing  of  the  rights  and  wrongs  of  the  technical 
objections,  I  wisely  held  my  peace  with  regard  to 
them,  but  was  obliged  to  admit  that  the  conduct  of 
the  person  at  Bonny  was  not  in  the  best  of  taste, 
and  would  certainly  have  been  taken  notice  of  by 
the  committee  had  he  been  a  member  of  my  club. 
So  there  was  nothing  to  do  but  let  the  obnoxious 
title  stand  ;  and  here  from  my  highland  fastness  I 
send  forth  to  the  expectant  millions  an  avowal  of 
my  guilt,  my  only  hope  being  that  the  charm  of 
the  book  may  avert  a  portion  of  their  philonegric 
wrath  from  the  unhappy  cause  of  its  title. 

Having  thus  confessed  my  fault,  I  may  come  to 
the  more  pleasant  task  of  showing  that  I  am  also 
the  primary  cause  of  the  book  itself.  But  for  me 
these  pages  would  never  have  been  written,  for  it 
was  only  by  my  contracting  (at  great  personal  in¬ 
convenience)  pneumonia,  pleurisy,  and  a  few  odds 
and  ends  of  complications,  that  I  obtained  the  long 
period  of  sick-leave  which  enabled  me  to  perform  the 
grateful  duties  of  guardian  and  companion  to  the 
authoress,  on  her  travels ;  and  it  would  be  false 
modesty  on  my  part  to  doubt,  when  after  a  hard 
day’s  travel  she  penned  her  diary  by  the  midnight 
dip,  that  her  weary  vigil  was  cheered  by  the  liar- 


X 


PREFACE. 


mony  of  my  snores,  without  whose  help  perhaps  the 
following  pages  would  have  lacked  that  sparkle  which 
I  am  sure  they  must  possess. 

When  the  book  is  presented  to  me,  neatly  bound 
and  comfortably  printed,  I  hope  to  put  this  matter 
to  the  test ;  but  in  the  meanwhile  I  can  assure  my 
fellow-readers  that  if  the  authoress  is  only  half  as 
good  at  writing  as  she  is  at  roughing  it,  we  have  a 
treat  before  us. 

H.  E.  COLVILE. 

Pankaw,  Katchin  Hills, 

Upper  Burmah, 

March  21,  1893. 


CONTENTS 


BOOK  PAGE 

I.  THE  SEA  OF  ISLAM  (Suez  to  Aden),  .  .  1 

II.  THE  LAND  OF  BOOKS  (Aden  to  Larnu),  .  .  48 

III.  THE  LAND  OF  BONDAGE  (Lamu  to  Zanzibar),  .  .  57 

IV.  THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTEBY  (Zanzibar  to  Mojimga),  .  80 

Y.  THE  LAND  OF  SLEEP  (Mojiinga  to  Durban),  .  229 

VI.  THE  LAND  OF  GOLD  (Durban  to  Cape  Town),  .  240 

YII.  THE  FOBTUNATE  ISLES  (Cape  Town  to  tbe  Canaries). .  271 

VIII.  THE  LAND  OF  DEATH  (West  Coast  of  Africa),  .  278 


INDEX. 


343 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


FULL-PAGE  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PORTRAIT  OF  AUTHOR, 

Frontispiece 

TOR, 

To  face  page  6 

YEMBO, 

II 

8 

HADENDOWA  ARABS, 

II 

24 

ADEN, 

II 

48 

THE  TANKS,  ADEN, 

If 

50 

CAPE  GUARDAFUI, 

II 

54 

SHELLA  POINT, 

II 

58 

MOMBASA  HARBOUR, 

II 

60 

MOMBASA, 

II 

64 

ZANZIBAR  FROM  ROOF 

OF  BRITISH  AGENCY, 

II 

70 

MONSIEUR  LE  MYRE  DE  VILERS, 

II 

80 

nosy-b£,  . 

II 

88 

Dl£GO  SUAREZ,  . 

II 

94 

TAMATAVE, 

II 

104 

queen’s  summer  palace,  from  drawing  by 

NATIVE  ARTIST,  .... 

A 

II 

156 

ANDdHALO  SQUARE,  ANTANANARIVO, 

II 

168 

XIV 


ILLUSTRATIONS, 


the  author  on  arrival  at  mojanga,  .  To  face  page  226 
INHAMBANE,  .  .  .  .  .  n  236 

KAFFIR  KRAAL,  NATAL,  .  .  .  .  .1  242 

THE  PRETORIA  COACH,  .  .  .  .  .11  254 

THE  COMPOUND,  DE  BEER’S  MINE,  .  .  .11  266 

BONE  YARD  IN  LAS  PALMAS  CEMETERY,  .  11  274 

ON  THE  ROAD  TO  OROTAVA,  .  .  .  .11  278 

CAPE  PALMAS,  .  .  .  .  .  .11  286 

NEGRESS,  ACCRA,  .  .  .  .  .11  292 

FACTORY,  BONNY,  .  .  .  .  .11  300 

COTTON-TREE,  BONNY,  .  .  .  .  .11  304 

BISHOP  AND  ARCHDEACON  CROWTHER  AND  CLERGY,  .  11  308 

JU-JU  PRIEST,  .  .  .  .  .  .11  314 

CAPITAINE  BINGER,  .  .  .  .  .11  330 

MONROVIA,  .  .  .  .  .  .11  334 

ILLUSTRATIONS  IN  THE  TEXT. 

PAGE 

NATIVES  OF  LAMU,  ......  59 

DOCTOR  BAISSADE  IN  HIS  FILANZANA,  ....  107 

SILVER  CHARMS,  ETC.,  .  .  .  .  .  .111 

CROSSING  LAKE  N6SY-v£,  .  .  .  .  .125 

DOWN-HILL,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .133 

OUR  MALAGASY  LANDLADY,  .  .  .  .  .160 

MALAGASY  PRINCESSES,  .  .  .  .  .174 

ARTICLES  OF  MALAGASY  MANUFACTURE,  .  .  .  184 

OUR  PARTY  UNDER  THE  AM5NTANA  TREE,  .  .  .  187 

LANDING  AT  MARA  VO  AY,  .  .  .  .  .214 

THE  QUILIMANE  PILOT,  .  .  .  .  .  232 

ZULU  DRESSES,  ORNAMENTS,  ETC.,  ....  246 

WASHERWOMEN,  LAS  PALMAS,  .  .  .  .  .272 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


XV 

TABU,  ........  288 

WEST  AFRICAN  WAKES,  .  .  -  .  .  .  294 

JU-JU  PRIEST,  .......  305 

JU-JU  TOWN,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .#  313 

IDOL  AND  OTHER  ARTICLES  FROM  BONNY,  .  .  .316 

“  CHARLES  HOLLIDAY AND  FAMILY,  ....  322 

NATIVE  TOWN,  DAKAR,  ......  340 


MAPS. 


AFRICA,  ........  jpage  1 

central  Madagascar,  ....  in  pocket  at  end 


ROUND  THE  BLACK  MAN’S  HARDEN. 


BOOK  I. 

THE  SEA  OF  ISLAM. 

I. 

The  doctors  having;  decided  that  we  must  winter  in 
a  warm  climate,  I  brought  the  big  family  atlas  to 
Harry,  who  dreamily  turned  over  the  leaves  until 
he  came  to  Africa.  After  sitting  for  some  time 
watching  the  smoke  from  his  cigarette,  he  looked 
up, — ‘ ‘  What  do  you  say  to  the  Cape  ?  ”  “  Charming !  ” 
I  replied,  quite  forgetting  what  a  bad  sailor  I  was  ; 
“but  how  shall  we  get  there  from  Bohemia?”  We 
had  promised  some  friends  to  spend  the  month  of 
August  with  them  in  that  country.  “  Let  us  go 
round  by  the  back  way,”  he  suggested,  and  so  it 
was  settled;  and  the  12th  of  September  1888  found 
us  at  Venice,  where  we  embarked  for  Alexandria. 


A 


2 


THE  SEA  OF  ISLAM. 


Oh  the  21st  we  arrived  at  Suez,  very  tired  and  be¬ 
grimed,  after  twelve  hours  in  that  dirtiest,  slowest, 
and  shakiest  of  all  known  means  of  conveyance, 
an  Egyptian  night-train. 

After  a  good  wash  and  a  substantial  breakfast  in 
that  curious  little  oasis  of  Anglo-Indianism,  the  Suez 
Hotel,  we  began  to  feel  more  at  peace  with  the 
world, — a  feeling  which  soon  disappeared  on  dis¬ 
covering  that  our  light  clothing,  guns,  &c.,  which 
had  been  sent  by  sea  to  meet  us  here,  had  not 
arrived.  So  the  morning,  which  I  had  hoped  to 
spend  in  peace,  had  to  be  devoted  to  rushing  about 
the  dirty  little  town,  followed  by  a  swarm  of  would- 
be  guides,  and  trying  to  collect  a  few  necessaries 
and  comforts  for  the  voyage. 

As  I  was  anxious  to  see  the  Red  Sea  ports,  we 
had  settled  to  go  by  the  Khedivial  Line  of  steamers, 
which  touched  at  all  of  them,  but  which,  we  had 
been  warned,  had  no  other  advantages.  On  going 
to  book  our  passage  by  this  line,  we  were  agree¬ 
ably  surprised  to  find  that  the  agent,  Mr  Campbell, 
had  received  a  telegram  from  a  friend  of  ours  at 
Alexandria  requesting  him  to  do  all  he  could  to 
make  us  comfortable,  to  secure  the  ladies’  cabin  for 
us,  and  to  have  an  extra  supply  of  ice  put  on  board. 

At  about  three  o’clock,  after  a  quarter  of  an  hour’s 
journey  in  the  train,  which  runs  over  a  causeway 
through  the  lagoon,  we  found  ourselves  on  board, 
and  were  received  by  Mr  Campbell,  who  showed  us 


THE  “MESSra”  AND  ITS  PASSENGERS. 


3 


our  cabin,  which  seemed  large  and  airy  enough, 
being  intended  to  hold  eight  passengers,  and  hav¬ 
ing  fair-sized  windows  on  two  sides,  opening  on  to 
the  quarter-deck.  I  must  say  my  heart  sank  a  lit¬ 
tle  when  I  saw  how  small  our  steamer,  the  “Messir,” 
was:  it  seemed  as  if  the  slightest  sea  would  make 
itself  felt,  and  subsequent  experience  proved  that 
my  conjecture  was  not  far  wrong. 

When  we  first  got  on  board  it  was  quite  impos¬ 
sible  to  move — the  little  hurricane-deck,  the  only 
part  reserved  for  saloon  passengers,  being  taken  up 
by  a  curious-looking  crowd  that  had  come  to  see  the 
Governor  of  Suez  off  on  one  of  his  official  rounds ; 
so  we  both  sat  in  a  corner  and  watched  the  proceed¬ 
ings,  which,  from  the  variety  of  the  costumes  and 
the  manners  and  customs  of  their  wearers,  greatly 
interested  me. 

One  man  standing  near  us  had  on  a  tarbush,  a 
check  shooting-suit,  a  white  waistcoat,  a  shirt  that 
had  not  been  washed  for  some  time,  evening  patent- 
leather  pumps,  blue-and-wliite-striped  cotton  socks, 
and  a  thick  gold  chain  :  "while  talking  to  his  friends, 
he  was  telling  his  beads  behind  his  back.  Another 
in  the  regulation  Stambuli  black  -  broadcloth  suit 
might,  but  for  his  tarbusli,  have  been  taken  for  a 
neat  young  English  curate.  A  third  with  a  sly 
sallow  face,  a  pen  behind  his  ear,  and  a  yellow- 
striped  dressing-gown,  was  his  Excellency’s  Coptic 
clerk.  All  looked  thoroughly  out  of  keeping  with 


4 


THE  SEA  OF  ISLAM. 


two  magnificent  old  grey-beards,  who,  in  ordinary 
native  dress,  were  capital  samples  of  the  “  fine  old  ” 
Arab  “  gentleman  all  of  the  olden  time.”  Among 
the  smaller  fry  the  Circassians  were  the  only  people 
who  looked  clean  and  attractive,  with  their  beautiful 
eyes  and  pleasant  faces.  One  of  them  seemed  much 
amused  at  the  interest  I  took  in  the  leave-takino' 

O 

between  the  Governor  and  his  friends,  the  form  of 
which  varied  according  to  the  social  position  of  the 
latter,  and  to  their  different  degrees  of  friendship. 
The  Governor  kissed  those  with  whom  he  was  most 
intimate  on  one  cheek  and  one  shoulder — or  rather, 
after  kissing  his  friend’s  cheek,  bobbed  his  head  over 
his  shoulder.  The  next  in  degree  was  kissed  on 
both  shoulders.  Those  in  the  highest  social  scale 
took  the  Governor’s  hand ;  just  as  they  were  going 
to  kiss  it,  he  snatched  it  away,  as  a  sign  that  he 
accepted  the  civility,  but  would  not  permit  them  to 
lower  themselves  to  such  a  degree.  The  highest  of 
all  bowed  very  low,  the  Governor  returning  the 
bow.  Lastly  came  the  lowest  grade,  who  were 
permitted  to  kiss  his  hand,  some  on  the  back  only, 
others  on  the  palm  as  well,  afterwards  raising  it  to 
their  foreheads.  His  portly  Excellency  meanwhile 
looked  very  important  and  self-satisfied. 

At  last  the  bell  rang,  and  the  crowd  went  ashore. 
I  was  quite  sorry,  for  I  should  have  liked  to  have 
seen  more  of  them  and  their  peculiar  ways.  We 
had,  however,  plenty  of  fellow-passengers  on  board 


HAREMS  ON  DECK. 


5 


for  me  to  study  :  these  soon  went  below  to  don  their 
travelling  attire,  which  appeared  mainly  to  consist  of 
the  garment  in  which  Christian  people  go  to  bed. 
The  ladies  of  their  harems  were  not  treated  to  the 
luxury  of  a  cabin,  but  were  encamped  on  the 
hurricane-cleck,  taking  up  half  of  the  already  scanty 
space  at  our  disposal.  They  were  kept  in  an 
enclosure  of  canvas  walls,  which,  being  open  at  the 
top,  must  have  afforded  a  fine  view  of  all  the  family 
arrangements  to  the  officer  on  duty  on  the  bridge. 

There  were  two  of  these  harems  on  board,  one 
belonging  to  the  Governor  of  Suez,  and  the  other 
to  a  splenclid-looking  old  man,  who  with  his  family 
was  starting  on  the  pilgrimage  to  Mecca.  What  a 
way  to  do  a  long  and  fatiguing  journey,  cooped  up 
in  a  little  enclosure,  and  never  allowed  to  show 
one’s  nose  outside  !  Harry  told  me  that  even  on 
desert  journeys  the  women  are  shut  up  in  a  s6rt  of 
gipsy-tent  pitched  on  the  top  of  the  baggage  on  a 
pack-camel.  I  am  told  that  formerly  their  lords 
and  masters  used  to  sleep  on  deck  near  the  harem 
enclosures,  but  they  have  now  so  far  advanced  with 
the  times  as  to  treat  themselves  to  a  cabin.  They, 
however,  did  not  have  their  meals  below,  but  scpiat- 
ting  in  a  circle  on  their  shoeless  heels,  ate  out  of  one 
bio-  dish  with  their  fing-ers.  When  not  so  eng-aged, 
or  saying  their  prayers,  they  smoked  a  never-end¬ 
ing  succession  of  cigarettes,  and  played  at  cards, 
chess,  or  backgammon,  in  which  they  were  joined 


6 


THE  SEA  OP  ISLAM. 


by  the  officers  and  crew,  who,  with  the  exception 
of  the  engineer,  were  all  natives.  He,  I  was  glad 
to  find,  was  an  Englishman,  for  the  natives  are 
curiously  casual  in  their  duties ;  and  even  the 
man  at  the  wheel  thought  nothing  of  leaving  his 
post  to  say  his  prayers. 

Our  party  at  meals  consisted  of  three  Englishmen, 
— Captain  Lewis  of  the  Egyptian  army,  hurrying 
back  to  Suakin,  having  heard  that  fighting  had 
begun  again ;  and  two  brothers,  Mr  Wood  and  Mr 
A.  Wood,  the  elder  of  whom  was  going  as  Consul  to 
Jeddah, — an  Egyptian  officer,  and  a  young  Circassian, 
who  looked  quite  mad,  and,  as  it  turned  out,  was  a 
good  deal  off  his  head. 

As  soon  as  we  were  under  way,  I  lay  down,  very 
thankful  to  get  possession  of  the  dirtiest  of  divans  ; 
for  the  motion  was  far  from  pleasant,  and  I  had 
already  learnt  that  if  one  takes  these  sort  of  journeys 
one  must  begin  by  striking  all  antipathy  to  dirt  out 
of  one’s  composition.  Our  Captain,  a  good-natured 
fat  Egyptian,  came  and  chatted  with  me  in  English.  I 
asked  him  if  his  boat  always  rolled  as  much  as  she  was 
doing  at  that  moment ;  he  assured  me,  “  That  was 
nothing  to  what  she  could  do.”  He  said  this  with 
such  evident  pride  that  I  could  not  help  smiling. 

After  dinner  we  sat  on  deck  trying  to  get  cool, 
and  enjoying  the  fast-fading  view  of  the  African 
coast,  whose  jagged  rocky  peaks  stood  out  in  sharp 
relief  of  darkening  purple  against  the  sunset  sky. 


TOR. 


■ 


OFF  TOE. 


During  the  night  we  were  to  cross  over  to  the 
Arabian  coast,  and  touch  at  Tor,  a  little  Egyptian 
port  and  quarantine  station  at  the  northern  end  of 
the  Sinai  peninsula.  The  night  was  not  a  very 
pleasant  one,  the  heat  being  intense.  Two  of  our 
cabin- windows  opened  on  to  the  forward  part  of  the 
ship,  in  which  was  encamped  a  portion  of  a  Sudanese 
regiment  going  from  Cairo  to  Suakin,  accompanied 
by  their  wives  and  babies ;  whilst  between  them 
and  us  were  heaped  up  in  crates  the  wretched  fowls, 
destined  to  be  killed  one  by  one,  though  many 
of  them  were  already  dying  from  the  intense  heat. 
With  a  slight  head -breeze  we  got  the  full  benefit 
of  their  combined  odours. 

Next  morning  we  were  up  early,  and  found  we 
were  only  going  six  knots  an  hour,  the  pilot  having 
all  the  time  to  keep  a  sharp  look-out  for  coral-reefs. 
At  nine  we  anchored  off  Tor,  but  had  to  lie  some 
way  out,  the  reefs  making  it  dangerous  to  go  very 
near. 

Captain  Lewis  assured  us  there  was  nothing  worth 
seeing  on  shore,  a  statement  which  the  view  from 
the  ship  certainly  did  not  discredit ;  so  we  remained 
on  board,  and  I  sketched  the  settlement,  consisting 
of  three  palm-trees  and  what  looked  like  a  few  mud- 
walls  dropped  on  the  seaward  edge  of  a  burning 
plain  of  yellow  sand,  bounded  at  a  distance  of  some 
ten  or  fifteen  miles  by  the  range  of  Sinai,  a  mass  of 
sharp-cut  peaks  and  rocky  gorges,  now  in  the  fore- 


8 


THE  SEA  OF  ISLAM. 


noon  mostly  in  a  deep  purple  shade,  relieved  by  a 
still  darker  shadow  in  the  clefts,  with  here  and  there 
a  glow  on  some  pinnacle  that  had  caught  the  sun. 
Except  for  those  lonely  palms,  on  shore  there  was 
no  smn  of  life — all  looked  so  dead  and  burnt  that  one 

O 

could  hardly  even  imagine  there  could  be  sound ; 
though,  judging  by  the  inhabitants  who  soon  boarded 
us,  I  have  no  doubt  I  should  have  been  disillusioned 
had  I  gone  ashore.  Hardly  had  the  anchor  dropped 
than  a  dozen  big-sailed  native  boats  were  racing 
towards  us,  dashing  full  speed,  until  it  seemed  as 
if  their  bows  were  on  the  point  of  being  crushed  in 
against  our  hull,  when  by  a  dexterous  turn  they 
were  swung  round  alongside ;  the  big  sails  flapped, 
and  the  crews  were  scrambling  over  the  bulwarks, 
each  urging  us  to  come  ashore  in  their  own  boat — 
the  best  of  the  flotilla — almost  before  one’s  heart 
had  ceased  to  j  ump  in  anticipation  of  their  disaster. 
They  were  wild,  picturesque-looking  fellows,  with 
the  scantiest  of  clothing,  their  only  ornaments  con¬ 
sisting;  of  fish-bones  stuck  through  their  hair.  From 
their  appearance  I  should  have  thought  them  a 
match  for  anybody  ;  but  one  of  them,  who  came  on 
board  with  a  basket  of  dates  for  sale,  got  so  terribly 
worsted  in  a  passage  of  words  with  an  old  Sudanese 
hag,  who  was  in  some  way  attached  to  the  troops, 
that  he  had  completely  to  surrender  and  let  her 
take  his  goods  at  her  own  price.  I  must  say  the 
way  she  pinned  him  into  a  corner  and  heaped  in- 


YEMBO. 


YEMBO. 


9 


vectives  on  him,  whirling  her  withered  arms  about 
his  face,  was  enough  to  frighten  the  bravest  man. 

Here  the  Governor  and  his  harem  left  us,  thus 
placing  a  little  more  of  the  deck  at  our  disposal. 

At  noon  we  started  again  with  the  wind  dead 
ahead,  passing  Shadwan  Island  at  five  o’clock  in  the 
evenino-  and  the  Dsedalus  reef  and  lighthouse  at 
six  on  the  following  morning.  The  Captain  told 
me  that  the  two  lighthouse  -  keepers  spent  nine 
months  out  of  every  twelve  on  that  bit  of  rock, 
hardly  as  large  as  a  good-sized  room.  What  an 
existence  ! 

In  the  afternoon  I  made  an  expedition  forward 
among  the  Sudanese,  and  greatly  delighted  one  proud 
young  mother  of  about  fifteen  by  taking  her  baby 
in  my  arms  ;  it  was  certainly  a  nice  little  thing, 
with  bright  eyes,  white  teeth,  and  head  like  a  black 
egg.  They  all  seemed  very  happy  and  cheery  to¬ 
gether,  and,  in  spite  of  their  ugliness,  there  was 
something  very  taking  about  them.  The  men  are 
splendid,  and  looked  remarkably  smart  in  their 
snow-white  uniforms. 

At  10.30  a.m.  on  September  the  24th,  we  sighted 
Yembo.  After  passing  through  an  opening  about 
300  yards  wide  between  the  reefs,  we  entered  a  wide 
lagoon  forming  a  fair-sized  and  safe  harbour.  Nine 
other  vessels  of  various  tonnage  were  at  anchor. 
Looking  at  them  through  my  glasses,  they  appeared 
like  ant-hills,  overrun  as  they  were  with  black  fig- 


10 


THE  SEA  OF  ISLAM. 


ures.  The  Captain  informed  us  they  were  all  pilgrims 
who  had  done  the  double  journey  to  Mecca  and  Me¬ 
dina  ;  those  who  only  go  to  Mecca  re-embarking  at 
J  eddah. 

As  we  got  nearer,  the  din  of  voices  was  indescrib¬ 
able.  Most  of  the  men  looked  perfectly  wild,  rush¬ 
ing  about  trying  to  secure  some  corner  on  their 
respective  homeward-bound  vessels.  I  never  saw 
such  a  scramble  in  my  life  ;  they  looked  more  like 
a  troop  of  monkeys  than  anything  else,  as  they 
bounded  over  any  cargo  that  happened  to  be  in  their 
way,  swinging  themselves  from  rope  to  rope  about 
the  rig-gin  g. 

We  anchored  not  far  from  the  wharf,  which  was 
black  with  a  moving  excited  crowd.  The  tall  well- 
made  Arabs  in  their  burnouses ,  with  their  well- 
defined  features  and  graceful  movements,  were  a 
great  contrast  to  their  more  ragged  fellow-pilgrims. 
On  a  French  vessel  alongside  of  us,  bound  for  the 
north  of  Africa,  were  some  very  wild-looking  men, 
worn  and  emaciated,  with  their  clothing  in  rags. 
The  Captain  told  us  the  pilgrims  have  to  pay  so 
highly  for  what  they  want  on  the  journey  that  they 
soon  get  to  the  end  of  their  resources.  How  strong 
and  beautiful  must  be  their  faith  to  cause  them  to 
leave  their  home  without  having  the  slightest  idea 
when  they  may  return  !  Some  of  them  come  from 
the  west  coast  of  Africa,  walking  across  the  desert 
through  totally  unknown  lands,  guiding  themselves 


PILGRIM  PASSENGERS. 


11 


by  the  rising  sun, — men  and  women,  old  and  young, 
enduring  such  sufferings  and  privations  that  many 
die  by  the  way.  Death  on  the  return  journey  is 
considered  perfect  happiness,  as  then  they  feel  sure 
of  attaining  the  Paradise  for  which  they  have  for¬ 
saken  everything.  Among  them  we  saw  many  so 
crippled  that  they  had  to  be  carried ;  others  were 
almost  skeletons. 

Soon  after  we  anchored  the  two  brothers  Wood 
went  on  shore,  but  soon  came  back,  saying  it  was 
dangerous  for  me  to  go  into  that  crowd.  They 
had  been  pelted  with  stones  in  the  town.  As  we 
were  anxious  to  see  the  place,  however,  their  ex¬ 
perience  did  not  stop  us.  So  I  put  on  a  thick  veil 
notwithstanding  the  heat,  out  of  respect  to  native 
prejudice,  and  soon  realised  how  much  veiled  women 
must  suffer !  Many  of  them  are  entirely  covered 
with  a  cotton  stuff  thrown  over  their  heads,  reach¬ 
ing  to  their  feet,  and  tied  round  the  neck,  only 
leaving  two  small  holes  for  the  eyes.  When  they 
eat  in  public  they  loosen  the  string  round  the 
neck,  and  pass  the  food  up  underneath  this  long 
garment. 

Having  secured  a  very  rickety  canoe  manned  by 
two  fierce-looking  natives,  we  landed  after  several 
perilous  encounters  with  boats  crammed  to  over¬ 
flowing  with  shouting  pilgrims,  who  certainly  looked 
more  like  wild  beasts  than  human  beings,  but,  all 
the  same,  very  picturesque  from  the  brilliant  colour- 


12 


THE  SEA  OF  ISLAM. 


ing  of  their  cotton  garments.  On  landing  we  had 
great  difficulty  in  getting  through  the  crowd  ;  and 
the  odours  that  filled  the  atmosphere  were  over¬ 
powering.  By  dint  of  wriggling  under  bare  arms 
and  over  sprawling  forms,  we  managed  to  get  into 
the  heart  of  the  town,  which  we  found  entirely  de¬ 
serted  by  all  except  a  band  of  very  unpleasant-look¬ 
ing  dogs  in  search  of  food.  The  inhabitants  were 
either  safe  in  their  flat-roofed  mud-houses,  or  seeino- 
those  unwelcome  birds  of  passage — the  pilgrims — off 
the  premises.  I  never  saw  streets  so  empty  or 
houses  in  such  a  tumble-down  condition.  But  for 
some  awnings  here  and  there  on  the  flat  roofs,  made 
of  rough  sticks  with  some  rags  thrown  over  them, 
evidently  for  the  convenience  of  the  women  when 
sitting  on  their  house-tops,  one  would  have  imagined 
one’s  self  in  a  city  of  the  dead. 

A  few  minutes’  walk  brought  us  to  the  eastern 

o 

wall  of  the  town,  at  one  of  the  gates  of  which  we 
came  across  a  drowsy  sentry  sitting  on  his  heels  and 
hugging  his  rifle,  as  he  pensively  contemplated  three 
rusty  guns,  which  from  their  appearance  might  have 
come  out  of  the  Ark.  Then  following  a  narrow 
street  to  our  left,  wTe  found  ourselves  in  the  bazaar, 
where  the  crowd  was  so  dense  that  it  was  almost 
impossible  to  pass.  However,  by  winding  through 
various  dirty  streets,  we  at  last  reached  the  wharf, 
or  rather  the  edge  of  the  crowd  that  was  on  it. 

Before  making  our  way  home  I  was  anxious  to 


INSIDE  YEMBO. 


13 


photograph  some  groups  ;  so  with  great  difficulty  we 
edged  our  way  to  a  shady  corner  of  the  square, 
stepping  over  camels’  necks,  piles  of  goods,  and 
shapeless  heaps  of  rags,  which,  from  the  groans  that 
issued  from  them  as  we  passed,  I  suppose  hid  human 
beings.  Opposite  us  was  a  well  -  built  house  with 
lovely  mushrabieh  windows,  through  which  we  could 
see  three  veiled  women  in  white,  evidently  watching 
the  departure  of  the  pilgrims.  As  I  had  taken  the 
precaution  of  putting  on  a  dust-cloak  to  conceal  my 
camera,  my  proceedings  attracted  no  special  atten¬ 
tion  ;  and  I  managed  to  get  some  very  good  shots. 
The  people  were  certainly  not  such  as  I  should  have 
cared  to  run  the  risk  of  alarming  by  levelling  a 
strano’e-lookinq-  instrument  at  them. 

I  had  seen  enough  of  native  crowds  for  one  day, 
and  as  we  returned  on  board  I  looked  forward  to  the 
comparative  peace  and  purer  air  of  the  “  Messir,”  and 
was  therefore  anything  but  agreeably  surprised  to 
find  our  ship  overrun  with  pilgrims.  Our  steward, 
Ibrahim,  tried  to  explain  that  the  Captain  had  at 
first  refused  to  take  them ;  but  finding  there  were 
only  three  hundred,  he  had  given  in.  Three  hundred 
to  occupy  a  space  which  would  only  hold  a  few 
dozen  ordinary  mortals !  It  took  so  long  getting 
them  on  board  that  we  had  to  put  off  our  departure 
till  the  following  morning.  Sleep  was  quite  out  of 
the  question  for  that  night — the  din  of  voices  never 
ceasing,  not  to  mention  the  heat,  mosquitoes,  and 


14 


THE  SEA  OF  ISLAM. 


the  homely  flea,  of  which  last  a  cargo  had  been 
shipped  with  no  extra  charge. 

At  10.30  a.m.  we  steamed  out,  passing  close  to  the 
“Malacca,”  an  old  P.  and  0.  liner,  which  the  Sultan 
of  Zanzibar  had  bought  for  the  use  of  the  pilgrims 
belonging  to  his  dominions.  She  was  so  crowded 
that  several  of  the  Haajis  had  taken  refuge  in  the 
rigging,  where  they  were  perched  like  Japanese 
acrobats  on  a  pole,  sheltering  themselves  from  the 
burning  sun  under  small  cotton  European  parasols 
of  various  colours.  Towards  luncheon-time  we  were 
rolling  so  tremendously  that  our  Captain,  who  was  not 
a  first-rate  sailor,  being  anxious  to  have  an  hour’s 
quiet  for  his  mid-day  meal,  turned  the  vessel’s  head 
round,  causing  her  to  pitch  so  that  certainly  one 
passenger — if  not  more — went  without  lunch  ;  be¬ 
sides  which,  we  lost  an  hour.  But  what  is  an 
hour  to  the  son  of  the  East  ? 

Later  in  the  day  I  went  forward  to  make  acquaint¬ 
ance  with  our  new  fellow-passengers — a  miserable 
sight.  They  were  a  ragged  hungry-looking  crowd 
of  all  ages — many  of  the  men  seeming  as  if  they 
had  parted  with  all  their  worldly  goods  except  the 
daggers,  splendidly  mounted  in  silver,  which  they 
still  wore. 

Life  on  board  ship  is  monotonous  at  the  best  of 
times ;  but  when  it  is  too  hot  to  sleep,  and  one  is 
too  ill  to  read,  it  becomes  doubly  so.  On  the  follow¬ 
ing  day,  however,  our  Circassian  fellow-passenger 


A  MAD  CIRCASSIAN. 


15 


provided  us  with  excitement  enough  and  to  spare. 
He  had  been  gradually  getting  wilder  in  his  manner 
ever  since  he  came  on  board,  spending  the  whole  of 
his  time  writing  letters,  which  he  tore  up  as  soon  as 
they  were  written.  He  confided  to  Mr  Wood  that 
he  had  been  crossed  in  love ;  whether  that  had 
turned  his  head,  or  whether  it  was  merely  a  de¬ 
lusion,  I  do  not  know,  but  at  any  rate  he  in  some 
way  connected  Harry  with  his  misfortune.  He  was 
“  sure  the  Englishman  knew  his  thoughts  even  be- 
fore  he  put  them  on  paper,”  and  the  result  was  that 
he  glared  most  unpleasantly  at  Harry  whenever  he 
met  him.  I  tried  to  make  friends  with  him  at 
meals,  as  he  sat  next  to  me ;  but  as  he  only  burst 
out  laughing  whenever  I  spoke  to  him,  I  gave  him 
up  as  hopeless. 

On  the  morning  after  leaving  Yembo  I  was  on 
deck  talking  to  Mr  Wood,  when  up  rushed  our 
madman.  He  stood  for  a  moment  in  front  of  us, 
muttering  something  in  French,  meanwhile  taking- 
off  his  coat.  Then  with  a  bound  he  jumped  over¬ 
board.  Mr  Wood  just  got  hold  of  his  foot  for  one 
moment,  thereby  checking  his  fall.  Instinct  seemed 
to  make  the  wretched  man  catch  at  a  rope,  to  which 
he  clung  out  of  reach,  his  feet  dangling,  dragging 
along  in  the  water.  We  tried  to  persuade  him  to 
come  up  again,  but  he  only  shouted  back  that  we 
were  all  his  enemies,  and  were  trying  to  put  his 
people  at  home  against  him.  After  a  time  he 


16 


THE  SEA  OF  ISLAM. 


thought  better  of  it,  and  scrambled  into  a  safer 
position,  watching  the  waves,  and  leaving  us  in 
doubt  whether  he  would  not  again  throw  himself  in. 
At  last,  after  much  talking  and  persuasion  on  our 
part,  he  was  induced  to  climb  up  and  get  on  deck, 
apparently  thoroughly  shaken,  and  having  for  the 
time  being  frightened  himself  back  to  his  right 
senses.  Our  usually  quiet,  indolent  Captain  was 
a  sight  to  see,  rushing  about  asking  what  he  should 
do  with  such  a  madman  on  board.  We  were  all 
of  one  mind,  that  the  Circassian  should  be  landed  at 
the  first  place  we  touched  at ;  and  the  steward  was 
in  the  meanwhile  told  to  keep  a  close  watch  over 
him,  for  which  I  was  thankful,  as,  knowing  his  hatred 
of  Harry,  I  felt  a  little  nervous.  At  lunch,  to  my 
astonishment,  the  poor  man  came  quietly  up  to  me 
and  begged  my  pardon  for  having  given  me  such  a 
fright.  He  very  rightly  remarked  that  if  Mr  Wood 
had  let  him  have  a  dip  it  would  have  done  him 
worlds  of  good. 

In  the  afternoon  the  venerable  owner  of  the  harem 
and  his  men-followers  appeared  on  deck  with  their 
loins  enveloped  in  what  looked  like  bath-towels,  but 
wearing  nothing  on  their  heads,  arms,  or  legs,  having 
divested  themselves  of  their  usual  travelling  attire. 
Ibrahim  explained  to  me  that  we  had  that  afternoon 
passed  a  place  called  Sherm  Rabigh,  at  which  point 
all  pilgrims  going  to  Mecca  had  to  clothe  themselves 
in  that  species  of  sackcloth  until  they  had  accom- 


AN  OLD  MAN  S  TWO  WIVES. 


17 


plished  their  pilgrimage.  What  tortures  town-bred 
natives  accustomed  to  European  clothes  must  endure 
with  so  little  to  protect  their  bodies  from  the  burn- 
in  o'  sun ! 

O 

We  were  due  at  Jeddah  that  afternoon,  and  as 
all  the  pilgrims  and  future  pilgrims  were  to  land 
there,  the  collecting  and  sorting  of  their  different 
goods  caused  an  indescribable  bustle  on  board. 
Out  of  the  harem  appeared  the  old  man’s  two 
wives,  dressed  entirely  in  black,  having  over  their 
faces  a  piece  of  muslin  so  thin  that  their  features 
were  distinctly  visible.  Both  were  evidently  Cir¬ 
cassians.  The  elder,  who  still  showed  traces  of 
good  looks,  seemed  to  act  the  part  of  handmaid 
to  the  younger  wife,  who,  conscious  of  her  youth 
and  beauty,  quite  took  it  as  her  due.  With  them 
was  a  lovely  little  girl — the  daughter  of  the  old 
man — with  magnificent  eyes,  clear  complexion,  and 
well-cut  features.  She  was  allowed  to  run  about 
amongst  us.  It  was  sad  to  think  of  such  a  lovely 
delicate  child  having  to  undergo  all  the  hardships 
of  that  long  journey. 

Towards  two  o’clock  we  anchored  some  miles 
from  the  town,  only  small  boats  being  able  to 
sail  in  and  out  among  the  coral-reefs.  This  was 
Mr  Wood’s  destination;  and  on  leaving,  he  invited 
us  to  come  and  see  his  future  home,  should  we 
go  ashore.  As  we  were  to  remain  at  anchor  till 
the  next  morning  we  accepted,  but  waited  patiently 

B 


18 


THE  SEA  OF  ISLAM. 


till  the  crowd  had  gone  ashore,  which  they  only 
accomplished  after  many  disputes  with  the  boatmen 
about  the  high  charges.  It  was  a  pretty  sight  to  see 
about  thirty  little  sailing-boats,  clumsily  made,  but 
going  a  good  pace,  racing  each  other  among  the 
reefs.  Dotted  about  were  small  canoes,  each  dug 
out  of  one  tree,  their  owners  fishing  for  coral. 
We  secured  a  nice  sailing-boat  with  a  jolly,  bright¬ 
faced  black  boy,  as  quick  and  active  in  his  move¬ 
ments  as  a  monkey.  Certainly  he  needed  to  be  so, 
for  in  shaping  his  course  through  the  zigzagging 
reefs,  he  had  constant  changes  of  wind  and  current 
to  contend  with ;  and  it  was  only  by  continually 
raising  and  lowering  the  sail,  sometimes  rowing 
with  all  his  might,  or  by  suddenly  touching  the 
rudder  with  his  foot,  that  he  finally  brought  us  to 
Jeddah  in  safety. 

As  we  approached  I  took  several  photographs 
of  the  town,  which  looked  most  imposing  with  its 
high  square  houses,  most  of  them  whitewashed, 
and  thus  bringing  out  to  advantage  the  large 
unpainted  mushrabieh  windows.  To  the  wharf 
were  fastened  a  great  number  of  crooked-masted 
dhows.  There  being  no  pier,  our  boatman  carried 
us  ashore  on  his  back.  Before  we  left  him  he 
gave  us  a  ring  made  of  a  bit  of  silver  wire  twisted 
like  a  rope,  so  that  when  we  returned  we  should 
hold  it  up  as  a  signal  of  recognition.  This  was 
all  settled  by  signs  and  many  smiles  on  his  part. 


JEDDAH. 


19 


After  passing  through  a  very  busy  crowd  loading 
and  unloading  cargo,  we  soon  found  ourselves  in 
the  bazaar,  the  largest  I  had  ever  seen.  It  is 
in  a  wide  street ;  but  the  rays  of  the  sun  are 
excluded,  and  a  cool  and  mysterious  appearance 
is  given  by  an  ingenious  arrangement  of  roofing. 
On  poles  placed  across  the  street  from  house  to 
house,  at  a  height  of  about  twelve  feet  from  the 
ground,  is  laid  a  network  of  bamboos,  with  varied 
pieces  of  canvas  and  other  stuffs  scattered  on  the 
top,  the  whole  being  supported  by  occasional  up¬ 
right  poles.  On  each  side  are  the  shops,  which 
are  raised  about  three  feet  from  the  ground,  and 
resemble  nothing  so  much  as  a  row  of  pigeon¬ 
holes,  averaging  seven  feet  by  five,  but  varying 
somewhat  in  size  according  to  the  wares  contained 
in  them  ;  at  night  they  are  made  secure  by  shutters, 
which  during  the  day  are  kept  beneath  the  floor. 
The  merchandise  was  very  varied  :  fruit  of  many 
sorts ;  beads  which  were  unmistakably  from  Bir¬ 
mingham  ;  cotton  stuffs  as  clearly  from  Man¬ 
chester  ;  carpets,  of  course  ;  black  coral  cigarette- 
holders  made  by  the  natives ;  scents  of  many  dif¬ 
ferent  kinds.  A  narghile  was  generally  to  be  seen 
in  a  corner,  and  a  pair  of  red  slippers  close  at 
hand.  Most  of  the  owners  were  sleeping  or  smok¬ 
ing,  the  only  busy  ones  being  the  metal-workers 
and  the  tailors ;  the  latter  not  only  making  the 
clothes,  but  generally  embroidering  the  material 


20 


THE  SEA  OF  ISLAM. 


as  well.  We  were  soon  followed  by  a  crowd  offer¬ 
ing  us  their  wares ;  but  we  did  not  stop,  being- 
anxious  to  reach  Mr  Wood’s  house,  and  afterwards 
to  visit  Eve’s  Tomb,  the  great  sight  of  the  place. 

After  leaving  the  bazaar  we  walked  through 
many  streets,  all  of  them  very  short,  with  sharp 
turns  to  the  right  and  left,  until  we  accidentally 
hit  upon  a  house  on  which  waved  the  British  flag. 
There,  sure  enough,  we  found  the  new  Consul. 
He  showed  us  over  his  future  abode,  which  certainly 
might  be  made  very  picturesque,  with  its  airy 
rooms  and  pretty  look-out  on  the  sea ;  but  a  few 
tables  and  chairs,  left  by  the  last  tenant,  were  then 
the  only  pieces  of  furniture. 

Mr  Wood  offered  to  send  his  cavass  to  escort 
us  to  the  tomb ;  and  soon  there  appeared  a  very 
imposing-looking  old  man,  with  bare  feet,  a  short 
red  coat  embroidered  in  gold,  and  white  breeches, 
having  at  his  side  a  long  sword  in  a  beautiful  silver 
sheath,  and  carrying  a  stick  with  an  elaborate  silver 
knob,  which  he  flourished  in  the  way  so  familiar 
to  us  in  the  drum -major  at  home.  We  sallied 
forth,  and  soon  found  these  weapons  were  most 
useful — the  stick  for  the  horrid  famished  dogs,  and 
the  sword  to  threaten  the  crowd  of  little  black 
urchins  who  would  follow  and  throw  stones  at  us. 
Our  guide  hurried  along  the  narrow  streets  to  a 
gate  in  the  town  wall,  whence  we  walked  on  for 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  ankle-deep  in  sand,  passing  by 


eve’s  tomb. 


21 


the  barracks,  in  front  of  which  several  Turkish 
officers  on  horseback  were  drilling  their  men,  all 
dressed  in  white  cotton  uniforms.  At  last  we 
reached  Eve’s  supposed  resting-place,  a  strip  of 
land  a  hundred  feet  long  by  twenty  broad,  enclosed 
between  low  walls,  with  a  small  gate  at  each  end. 
After  going  about  three  -  quarters  of  the  length 
between  these  walls,  we  came  to  a  small  mosque, 
which  our  guide  told  us  was  built  over  our  first 
mother’s  heart,  and  in  which  two  men  kneeling  on 
mats  were  praying  very  earnestly  and  in  loud  tones. 
When  we  expressed  our  surprise  at  the  length  of 
the  tomb,  our  guide  was  ready  with  his  answer, 
“  Having  been  the  mother  of  us  all,  she  was  natu¬ 
rally  very  tall.”  As  it  was  getting  late  we  hurried 
back  to  the  shore,  and  after  some  time  found  our 
nice  boy,  who  had  several  native  passengers  in  his 
boat  ready  to  be  taken  on  board. 

While  waiting  for  dinner  I  stood  on  deck  watch¬ 
ing  a  boat  being  laden  with  cargo,  in  the  bow 
of  which  were  two  men  repeating  their  evening 
prayers.  Unfortunately  for  them  they  were  just 
on  a  level  with  our  waste-steam  pipe,  which  the 
inconsiderate  engineer  suddenly  opened,  causing  the 
boiling  steam  to  fly  straight  in  their  faces.  A 
roar  of  laughter  was  all  the  sympathy  they  got, 
and  they  soon  ended  by  joining  in  the  merriment, 
quite  forgetting  to  finish  their  devotions. 

The  next  morning  Ibrahim  asked  me  if  I  would 


22 


THE  SEA  OF  ISLAM. 


go  marketing  with  him.  I  gladly  accepted,  being 
always  ready  for  sight-seeing ;  so  five  o’clock 
found  me  again  going  on  shore,  chaperoned  by  our 
Egyptian  steward.  Although  so  early,  it  was  very 
hot,  and  the  bazaar  was  more  crowded  than  the 
day  before  by  natives  in  all  kinds  of  coloured 
costumes.  We  first  went  for  our  provisions  to  a 
bazaar  I  had  not  yet  visited.  If  the  heat  had  not 
for  many  days  past  deprived  me  of  all  wish  to 
touch  meat,  the  sight  I  saw  there  certainly  would 
have  done  so,  the  butchers’  shops  being  simply 
black  with  flies.  I  speedily  deserted  Ibrahim,  and 
turned  my  attention  to  the  more  tempting  vegetable 
and  fruit  stalls,  where  he  afterwards  joined  me. 
There  were  pyramids  of  pomegranates,  some  split 
open,  showing  their  lovely  crimson  seeds ;  next  to 
them  were  water-melons  of  curious  shapes ;  while 
among  the  vegetables  I  seized  upon  an  old  favourite, 
the  purple  fruit  of  the  egg-plant.  Ibrahim  com¬ 
plained  that  in  consequence  of  my  being  there  they 
asked  him  double  the  usual  price  for  everything. 
This  made  him  very  angry. 

Having  got  hold  of  a  boy  to  convey  his  purchases 
to  the  boat,  he  took  me  into  a  narrow  street  where 
the  metal-workers  lived  in  dirty  little  shops.  I 
bought  several  silver  charms,  but  on  the  whole 
there  was  little  worth  purchasing.  On  our  way 
back  we  stopped  at  a  scent-shop  to  buy  some  attar 
of  roses,  which  was  very  cheap ;  the  man  covered 


IN  A  JEDDAH  CAFA 


23 


my  hands  with  all  kinds  of  scents,  each  more  deli¬ 
cious  than  the  other.  Seeing  a  fruit-stall  opposite 
covered  with  beautiful  grapes,  bananas,  and  limes, 
we  got  another  small  boy,  and  loaded  him  with 
these  tempting  spoils.  I  was  beginning  to  feel  very 
hot  and  hungry,  so  Ibrahim  took  me  to  a  cafe.  I 
could  not  help  laughing  to  find  myself  sitting  en 
tete-a-tete  with  Ibrahim  drinking  delicious  black 
coffee  at  a  small  marble  table  in  a  cool  and  spacious 
room  full  of  strange  men.  It  was  twelve  o’clock 
before  we  got  back  to  the  vessel. 


ii. 


During  our  absence  there  had  been  several  new 
arrivals.  Among  them  was  Father  Luigi  Bonomi, 
the  Roman  Catholic  priest — a  tall  handsome  man 
with  a  kind  intelligent  face — who  escaped  from  El 
Obeid  in  June  1885.  Harry  and  he  recognised  each 
other  directly,  for  after  his  escape  he  made  his  way 
to  the  camp  where  Harry  was  at  Dongola. 

That  afternoon  we  left  for  Suakin,  and  got  into  a 
nasty  cross-sea,  which  made  the  “  Messir  ”  roll  even 
more  than  ever ;  and  as  we  were  already  nearly  mad 
with  prickly  heat,  the  night  was  one  of  misery. 
The  next  morning  early  a  welcome  little  yellow 
bird  flew  past  our  port-hole,  a  sign  that  land  was 
near.  It  remained  some  time  on  the  ship ;  and 
Captain  Lewis,  thinking  it  was  thirsty,  told  his 


24 


THE  SEA  OF  ISLAM. 


black  servant,  Mustapha,  to  give  it  some  water  in 
a  plate.  The  intelligent  youth  brought  up  some 
thick  cabbage-soup  ! 

Soon  afterwards  we  sighted  the  African  coast,  and 
steamed  along  about  fifteen  hundred  yards  distant 
from  it  for  some  miles.  As  we  passed  abreast  of 
Sheikh  Barud’s  Tomb,  which  was  visible  in  the  far 
distance,  the  sailors  threw  a  bucketful  of  fresh  water 
overboard,  providing,  as  they  believed,  some  water 
for  the  holy  man  to  drink,  there  being  no  fresh 
water  on  any  part  of  that  coast.  It  is  a  barren¬ 
looking  country,  with  its  hard  line  of  rocky  hills 
overlooking  the  narrow  sandy  plain  dotted  with 
stunted  mimosa-bushes,  which  the  dervishes  found 
so  useful  as  cover  during  the  fighting,  crawling  like 
snakes  from  one  to  the  other. 

Suakin  was  now  in  sight,  and  the  excitement  was 
great  on  board,  as  we  did  not  know  what  reception 
we  should  meet  with.  For  all  we  knew,  the  enemy 
might  be  in  possession.  Some  one  thought  he  saw 
smoke  in  the  distance.  Was  it  Suakin  burning? 
Should  we  be  able  to  get  into  harbour?  Many 
were  the  conjectures.  Captain  Lewis,  who  had 
been  very  unwell  all  the  voyage,  was  now  quite  a 
different  man,  looking  forward  with  joy  to  more 
fighting.  Suddenly  we  heard  a  cannon-shot ;  and 
by  looking  through  his  glasses,  Harry  made  out 
that  a  shell  had  been  fired  from  Fort  Handoub. 
Evidently  Suakin  had  not  yet  surrendered.  While 


HADENDOWA  ARABS. 


SUAKIN. 


25 


we  were  anxiously  listening  another  gun  was  fired, 
this  time  from  a  man-of-war  in  the  harbour. 

At  about  three  o’clock  wTe  steamed  into  the 
sheltered  little  harbour,  passing  on  the  left  the 
native  cemetery,  and  on  the  right  Quarantine  Island, 
which  contains  the  European  graveyard.  Before  the 
anchor  was  lowered  a  crowd  of  natives,  with  long 
curious  wooden  spikes  sticking  in  their  curly  heads, 
scrambled  on  deck ;  and  as  soon  as  we  were  brought 
to,  Captain  Lewis  wTent  ashore,  soon  returning  with 
Mr  Bewley,  the  owner  of  a  large  house  in  Suakin, 
who  kindly  offered  to  put  us  up  during  our  two 
days’  stay.  This  offer  we  gladly  accepted ;  and 
after  putting  a  few  things  together,  we  were  rowed 
ashore.  No  one  who  has  not  experienced  the  dis¬ 
comforts  of  a  small  dirty  Egyptian  steamer  can 
realise  the  delightful  feeling  of  finding  one’s  self 
in  a  clean  and  airy  house. 

I  was  shown  up  to  a  big  room  opening  on  to  a 
wide  balcony  overlooking  the  harbour.  Two  little 
black  boys  were  deputed  to  wait  upon  us.  With 
great  trouble  I  got  rid  of  them  and  began  to  unpack, 
but  every  few  minutes  the  door  was  opened  and 
a  little  black  grinning  face  peered  in.  While  we 
were  at  lunch  we  heard  continual  firing  on  all  sides. 
Mr  Bewley  told  us  that  H.M.S.  “  Gannet,”  at  anchor 
not  far  off,  had  been  firing  the  whole  of  the 
day  before,  but  that  now  she  was  running  short 
of  ammunition,  and  was  anxiously  awaiting  the 


26 


THE  SEA  OF  ISLAM. 


arrival  of  another  man-of-war.  Most  of  the  firing 
had  to  he  clone  from  the  forts,  situated  at  various 
distances  from  the  town.  About  fifteen  hundred 
dervishes  were  hidden  in  trenches,  ready  for  an 
attack  on  the  town,  which  was  expected  at  any 
moment ;  and  it  was  believed  that  they  had  strong 
reinforcements  on  the  hills  to  support  them.  Their 
supposed  object  was  to  make  for  Quarantine  Island, 
on  which  were  the  condensers.  The  fresh  water 
once  in  their  possession,  they  knew  full  well  the 
town  would  soon  have  to  surrender.  The  hos¬ 
pital  is  built  on  that  same  island.  Some  nights 
before,  the  enemy  had  come  quite  close ;  and  two 
prisoners,  who  were  not  so  ill  as  they  made  out, 
escaped  and  joined  them.  Osman  Digna  used  to 
mark  any  deserters  from  the  Egyptian  ranks  by 
cutting  off  a  finger,  so  as  always  to  know  them. 
I  do  not  know  whether  Osman  Naib,  who  was  then 
in  command  of  the  dervish  force  outside  Suakin, 
carried  out  the  same  agreeable  custom.  This  gen¬ 
eral  had  superseded  Osman  Digna  by  order  of 
the  Khalifa,  by  whom  Osman  Digna  had  at  that 
time  been  recalled  to  Khartum.  Two  of  the 
enemy  had  deserted  the  week  before  and  come 
into  the  town.  The  trenches,  they  said,  were  full 
of  the  dead  and  dying,  and  with  the  heat  were 
becoming  pestilential.  The  dervishes  worked  all 
night  making  these  trenches,  but  stupidly  dug 
most  of  them  in  a  line  with  the  forts,  so  that 


AMONG  THE  SUAKIN  FORTS. 


27 


tlie  guns  could  sweep  right  down  them,  causing 
great  havoc. 

This  night-work  was  stopped  by  the  electric  light 
being  turned  on.  It  seems  the  first  time  the 
dervishes  saw  themselves  all  lit  up  by  it  there  was 
a  panic  among  them. 

After  lunch  Captain  Lewis  came  to  take  Harry 
round  the  outer  forts,  one  of  which  was  not  more 
than  four  hundred  yards  from  the  enemy’s  trenches. 
I  was  most  anxious  to  go  with  them,  but  it  was 
thought  to  be  too  risky,  as  casualties  were  con¬ 
stantly  happening ;  so  during  their  absence  Mr 
Bewley  rowed  me  across  to  one  of  the  nearer  forts 
on  the  south  side  of  the  harbour,  where,  after  making 
our  way  through  the  hedge  of  wire  entanglements 
that  surrounded  it,  I  followed  him  up  a  high  and 
very  lightly  made  ladder  into  the  guard-room,  and 
thence  on  to  the  parapet.  There  I  got  a  good  view  of 
the  enemy’s  intrenchments,  in  which  the  dervishes, 
looking  like  black  specks,  were  moving  to  and  fro. 
At  the  foot  of  the  fort,  just  inside  the  town  wall, 
was  a  tennis-court,  in  which  a  game  was  going  on ; 
and  as  I  could  see  it  and  the  enemy’s  lines  at  the 
same  time,  the  picture  was  a  curious  mixture  of 
homely  everyday  life  and  the  excitement  of  war. 
On  the  one  side  of  the  wall,  the  two  men  wholly 
absorbed  in  their  game  ;  on  the  other,  the  fanatics 
only  waiting  for  a  favourable  opportunity  to  rush 
and  cut  all  our  throats ;  in  the  middle,  the  Egyp- 


28 


THE  SEA  OF  ISLAM. 


tian  soldiers  in  the  fort,  rather  bored  with  their 
day  on  guard,  and,  purely  as  a  matter  of  business, 
potting  the  Arabs  as  occasion  offered. 

We  were  invited  to  dine  at  mess  by  Captain 
Lewis,  and  on  our  arrival  at  the  roomy  verandah 
overlooking  the  harbour  were  received  by  ten 
English  officers.  There  were  two  other  guests — 
the  Commandant  and  the  Lieutenant  of  a  French 
man-of-war  at  anchor  in  the  harbour.  I  was  at 
once  introduced  to  them,  and  they  were  very  much 
surprised  to  meet  one  of  their  countrywomen  in  this 
out-of-the-way  place.  The  Commandant  told  me 
they  had  broken  down  in  the  Red  Sea,  and  put 
in  at  the  nearest  port,  not  knowing  there  were  any 
disturbances.  They  steamed  in  straight  for  the 
farthest  end  of  the  harbour — as  it  happened,  just 
placing  themselves  between  H.M.S.  “Gannet’s”  guns 
and  the  enemy.  He  laughingly  said  to  me,  “  Every 
one  thought  that  we  were  mad.  I  soon  backed 
out,  having  been  informed  what  was  going  on.” 
We  had  a  long  talk  about  “  La  Belle  France,”  and 
became  great  friends. 

Mr  Gordon,  General  Gordon’s  nephew,  was  the 
moving  spirit  of  the  party.  Always  hard  at  work, 
at  that  time  he  was  very  busy  putting  up  electric 
light  on  the  big  town  gate,  which  he  had  built. 
He  had  also  put  up  several  telephones — one  con¬ 
necting  the  mess-room  with  the  “  John  Pender,”  the 
telegraph  ship  then  at  anchor  in  the  inner  harbour, 


HADENDOWA  BOYS. 


29 


which  he  set  going  to  ask  them  to  turn  the  electric 
light  on  the  enemy  for  our  amusement.  Unfortu¬ 
nately  something  hacl  happened,  and  it  could  not 
be  done. 

A  bevy  of  small  Hadendowa  boys  waited  at  table, 
each  more  cheeky  than  the  other.  The  smallest,  a 
bright-eyed  little  monkey,  who  kept  watching  us, 
was  a  great  pet  of  one  of  the  officers.  When 
he  was  asked  which  he  thought  was  the  nicest 
of  us,  he  pointed  at  me,  saying,  “  Zu  takes  the 
cake !  ”  Some  time  before,  a  boy  had  deserted 
to  the  enemy,  and  shortly  afterwards  his  master, 
who  had  just  returned  from  leave  with  some  new 
uniform,  finding  himself  at  rather  close  quarters 
with  the  dervishes  in  a  skirmish,  heard  a  voice  from 
the  bush  saying,  “  You’ve  got  them  all  on !  ”  and 
looking  up,  recognised  his  former  servant. 

After  dinner  Mr  Gordon  made  the  boys  dance  and 
sing  music-hall  songs.  At  ten  o’clock  we  rowed 
home,  glad  to  get  a  night’s  rest  in  comfortable  beds. 

I  was  awakened  very  early  by  the  continual 
firing,  and  as  my  bed  faced  the  window,  I  could 
watch  the  forts  enveloped  in  smoke.  The  two  little 
black  boys  brought  us  all  we  required,  and  requested 
I  would  let  them  wash  some  clothes  ;  so  I  gave  them 
a  few  pocket-handkerchiefs,  hoping  that  would  keep 
them  quiet  and  out  of  the  way  during  my  dressing. 
No  such  luck !  They  were  very  soon  back,  and 
creeping  in  noiselessly,  came  and  stood  by  my  dress- 


30 


THE  SEA  OF  ISLAM. 


ing-table,  where  they  amused  themselves  by  exam¬ 
ining  all  the  contents  of  my  dressing-bag,  poking 
each  other  in  the  ribs  with  delight ;  but  what  seemed 
to  fascinate  them  most  was  to  watch  me  curl  my 
fringe.  I  am  sure  they  must  have  inspected  the 
lamp  with  care  after  I  had  gone  to  breakfast.  At 
nine  Mr  Bewley  took  me  to  see  the  town,  which 
was  kept  most  scrupulously  clean  by  the  convicts, 
whose  morning  duty  was  to  sweep  the  streets.  We 
met  men  carrying  skins  full  of  water,  which  they  sell 
in  small  quantities.  We  passed  over  the  drawbridge 
and  causeway  that  connect  the  island  of  El  Kaf, 
on  which  the  Government  buildings  are  situated, 
with  the  town  proper.  The  shallow  water  beneath 
was  black  with  little  urchins  grovelling  in  the  mud. 
A  little  way  farther  on  we  reached  the  big  square, 
where  the  day  before  two  women  had  been  killed  by 
the  enemy’s  shells.  On  the  other  side  of  this  square 
stands  one  of  the  town  gates.  I  was  only  allowed 
to  walk  two  paces  outside  it,  as  one  immediately 
becomes  a  mark  for  the  dervishes,  who  are  all  day 
on  the  look-out  for  pot-shots. 

The  remnant  of  the  rolling  stock  of  the  Suakin 
and  Berber  Railway  was  at  that  moment  returning 
from  its  round  of  carrying  food  and  ammunition 
to  the  forts.  It  consisted  of  an  engine  and  two 
carriages ;  the  driver  was  concealed  and  protected 
by  sheets  of  iron,  a  very  necessary  precaution,  as 
the  enemy  constantly  fired  at  the  train  on  its  daily 


A  GREEK  FUNERAL. 


31 


rounds,  without  however  seeming  to  cause  much 
damage.  I  shall  always  regret  not  having  gone  to 
the  forts  in  it ;  it  would  not  have  been  a  bit  more 
dangerous  than  many  other  things  I  did  during  this 
journey. 

Walking  home,  Mr  Bewley  gave  me  a  description 
of  a  Greek  funeral  he  had  attended  the  week  before. 
The  coffin  was  taken  in  a  boat  from  the  town  across 
to  the  cemetery,  where,  after  landing,  the  friends  re¬ 
moved  the  lid,  exposing  the  corpse  to  view ;  it  was 
that  of  a  young  bridegroom  dressed  in  his  wedding- 
suit,  with  his  wife’s  bridal  wreath  of  orange-blossoms 
tied  round  his  forehead,  her  bouquet  over  his  hands. 
All  the  friends  stooped  to  kiss  him  three  times,  and 
then  in  turn  poured  claret,  incense,  and  ashes  over 
him.  The  body  was  then  lowered  into  the  grave ; 
and  a  friend  being  helped  down,  knelt  on  the  corpse 
and  tore  the  clothes  from  oft’  it  before  screwing  down 
the  lid.  To  finish  up  this  ghastly  ceremony,  they 
all  drank  liqueurs  standing  round  the  grave. 

Just  before  lunch  the  Governor-General,  Colonel 
Holled-Smith,  came  to  call  on  us,  and  invited  us  to 
dine  with  him  that  night.  In  the  afternoon  Captain 
Lewis  took  us  in  a  boat  to  visit  the  “  John  Pender,” 
on  which  we  were  shown  the  cables  and  dynamos. 
There  wTere  two  delightful  monkeys  on  board  be¬ 
longing  to  a  nice  old  sailor,  who  made  them  show  olf 
all  their  tricks.  On  leaving  the  “John  Pender”  we 
rowed  back  round  Quarantine  Island  to  the  extreme 


32 


THE  SEA  OF  ISLAM. 


end  of  the  harbour,  where  H.M.S.  “  Gannet  ”  was 
anchored.  The  Captain  being  on  shore,  Lieutenant 
James  did  the  honours  of  his  ship,  and  showed  us 
the  big  gun  which  they  had  been  using  to  fire  at  the 
enemy.  With  the  help  of  a  strong  telescope  the 
trenches  were  distinctly  visible,  and  while  standing 
on  deck  we  saw  a  wounded  soldier  carried  on  a 
stretcher  from  one  of  the  forts  to  the  hospital. 
Similar  casualties  were  constantly  happening,  al¬ 
though  the  firing  had  greatly  diminished  that  day. 
During  the  night  the  enemy’s  fire  always  ceased. 

At  eight  o’clock  we  walked  over  to  Government 
House  for  dinner.  The  only  other  guest  was  Cap¬ 
tain  Bradford  of  H.M.S.  “Gannet,”  a  nice  cheery 
sailor,  delighted  to  have  a  chance  of  dining  with 
his  fellow-creatures.  We  were  given  an  excellent 
dinner  out  in  the  cool  verandah,  a  fresh  breeze  keep¬ 
ing  the  flies  and  insects  away.  It  is  rather  dis¬ 
tressing,  until  one  gets  used  to  it,  to  find  one’s  soup 
and  wine  black  with  them  in  a  second.  Before 
leaving;,  which  we  did  soon  after  dinner  on  account 
of  our  early  start  next  morning,  our  host  showed  us 
the  improvements  he  had  made  in  the  house. 

September  the  30th,  6.30  a.m.,  found  us  on  board 
again,  and  steaming  out  saluted  by  the  enemy’s 
firing;,  which  was  incessant.  In  about  half  an  hour 
we  passed  abreast  of  the  place  between  Suakin  and 
Tamai  where  Baker’s  zereba  was  made  in  1884,  and 
McNeill’s  in  1885.  Suddenly  there  was  a  great  ex- 


APPEARANCE  OF  THE  SEA-SERPENT. 


33 


citement,  the  crew  rushing  to  the  side  of  the  ship 
and  eagerly  pointing  at  something  in  the  water. 
The  Captain  called  us,  and  we  hurried  after  him  in 
time  to  see  part  of  the  body  of  some  enormous  sea- 
monster  arching  itself  out  of  the  water  in  a  semi¬ 
circle,  and  only  to  be  compared  in  appearance  to  the 
coils  of  a  gigantic  eel.  The  crew  called  it  a  batan ; 
but  if  it  was  not  our  friend  the  sea-serpent,  it  must 
have  been  some  near  relation.  The  Captain  told 
us  he  had  seen  it  before  alongside  the  ship,  some 
hundred  feet  long.  The  large  portion  we  saw 
certainly  led  us  to  believe  there  must  be  a  great 
deal  more  under  water. 

Though  there  was  a  strong  breeze,  the  heat  was 
intense,  and  the  old  divan  was  my  one  consolation ; 
I  lay  there  for  hours  watching  the  Captain  and  the 
steward  sitting  on  their  heels  playing  backgammon. 
As  we  were  passing  abreast  of  Trinkitat,  the  latter 
kindly  interrupted  his  game  to  point  out  to  me 
several  sambuks,  mostly  engaged  in  smuggling  and 
the  slave-trade,  which  was  said  to  be  very  flourish¬ 
ing  at  that  time. 

The  heat  in  the  night  was  intolerable  ;  everything 
damp,  and  our  clothes  were  more  fit  to  be  wrung  out 
than  worn.  Pitching  was  again  added  to  all  the  other 
discomforts,  and  the  wind  was  so  strong  against  us 
that  our  poor  little  boat  could  only  make  four  and 
a  half  knots  an  hour,  so  that  all  hope  of  reaching 
Massowah  by  daylight  had  to  be  given  up. 

c 


34 


THE  SEA  OF  ISLAM. 


It  was  seven  o’clock  in  the  evening  and  pitch-dark 
when  we  at  length  steamed  into  the  harbour.  The 
rows  of  lights  on  shore  gave  one  the  impression  of  a 
big  town  with  many  boulevards  running  in  different 
directions.  Several  boats  were  soon  distinctly  visible 
making  towards  us,  entirely  lit  up  by  the  most  vivid 
phosphorescence  I  had  ever  seen.  It  was  a  fairy-like 
scene,  the  oars  starting  ripples  of  light  every  time 
they  were  dipped  in  the  water.  Ibrahim  told  me  he 
thought  if  we  could  that  night  interview  General 
Bordighera,  commanding  the  Italian  troops,  he  might 
allow  us  to  go  and  visit  the  fort  at  Saati,  some  miles 
inland.  Being  anxious  to  see  as  much  of  the  country 
and  its  colonists  as  possible,  we  agreed  to  go  ashore 
at  once,  and  try  what  could  be  done.  There  was  also 
another  great  inducement — an  iced  drink,  which  Ib¬ 
rahim  said  could  be  got  at  any  of  the  little  cafes  on 
the  wharf.  The  ice  on  board  having  been  finished 
days  before,  we  had  suffered  a  good  deal  from  the 
want  of  it.  We  left  him  no  peace  until  he  had  got 
us  a  boat  and  escorted  us  to  a  regular  Italian  cafe 
with  little  marble-topped  tables  outside. 

The  iced  drink  quite  refreshed  us,  and  having 
found  out  that  the  General’s  headquarters  were  on 
the  other  side  of  the  harbour,  we  again  got  into 
our  boat,  and  were  rowed  across  to  a  well-built 
landing-place,  escaping  on  the  way  several  imminent 
collisions,  thanks  to  the  brilliancy  of  the  phosphor¬ 
escent  light,  none  of  the  boats  having  lanterns  on 


MASSOWAH. 


35 


board.  Making  for  a  large,  square,  whitewashed 
house  with  battlemented  walls,  we  ascended  a  double 
flight  of  steps  leading  on  to  a  terrace  where  sentries 
were  walking  up  and  down.  Passing  through  large 
double  doors,  we  were  met  by  an  officer,  who  received 
us  most  cordially,  and  after  hearing  our  request, 
wrote  an  order  which  would  enable  us  to  see  all  we 
wanted,  and  gave  us  leave  to  go  by  the  train  which 
starts  at  an  early  hour  every  morning  for  military 
purposes.  He  told  us  at  the  same  time,  that  as 
the  General  was  out,  he  would  take  it  upon  himself 
to  telegraph  to  the  Colonel  commanding  the  fort  to 
be  in  readiness  to  receive  us. 

We  returned  to  our  uncomfortable  little  ship, 
proud  of  our  success.  That  night  was  the  most 
terrible  one  we  had  as  yet  experienced.  Sleep  was 
out  of  the  question ;  the  sheets  seemed  to  burn  one’s 
skin,  and  there  was  not  a  breath  of  air  to  relieve  the 
feeling  of  suffocation.  As  Harry  expressed  it,  “  We 
were  like  pats  of  butter  in  July.”  Next  morning 
Ibrahim,  having  taken  French  leave,  accompanied 
us.  Starting  at  5.30,  and  passing  on  our  way  the 
picturesque  old  galleried  hospital-ship  “  Garibaldi,” 
we  soon  reached  the  landing-stage. 

The  town  presented  quite  a  different  appearance 
by  daylight,  being  by  no  means  so  imposing  as  when 
lit  up.  All  the  European  houses  are  small,  and  built 
on  the  quay,  taking  up  most  of  one  side  of  the  har¬ 
bour.  On  reaching  the  little  wrnoden  pier  leading  to 


36 


THE  SEA  OF  ISLAM. 


the  station,  we  had  to  wait  in  our  boat  some  time, 
the  whole  place  being  taken  up  by  a  large  cargo  of 
ice,  the  daily  consumption  of  the  Saati  garrison.. 
The  station  was  a  large  hut,  copied  from  those  used 
at  Suakin ;  close  to  it  were  great  store-houses.  All 
the  daily  stores  having  been  placed  on  the  trucks, 
we  started,  our  fellow-passengers  being  several  non¬ 
commissioned  officers  and  men,  most  of  them  looking 
pale  and  worn.  We  had  to  travel  twenty-five  kilo¬ 
metres  to  reach  our  destination.  The  first  part  of 
the  journey  was  through  an  alluvial  plain,  which 
might  well  have  been  cultivated  as  far  as  Monkullo, 
but  there  were  only  native  camps  dotted  about  with¬ 
out  a  vestige  of  vegetation  near.  Ibrahim  told  us 
that  soon  after  the  Italians  came  to  Massowah 
a  large  fire  broke  out  in  the  native  quarters,  which 
were  entirely  composed  of  huts.  Since  then  all 
natives  had  been  ordered  to  live  in  properly  built 
houses,  to  which  most  of  them  objected,  prefer¬ 
ring  to  camp  out  in  the  plain.  The  Italians  have 
dug  a  good  many  wells  for  the  benefit  of  their 
various  forts ;  and  all  the  water  in  the  town  is 
brought  by  means  of  pipes  from  these  wells,  which 
are  worked  by  horses.  We  stopped  at  several 
stations,  or  rather  store-houses,  to  deposit  provisions 
for  the  outlying  posts.  Leaving  the  plain  behind 
us,  we  reached  a  rocky  and  hilly  country,  where 
we  were  shown  Dogeli,  the  scene  of  the  Italians’ 
first  battle  against  the  Abyssinians.  The  line  of 


THE  ITALIANS  AT  SAATI. 


37 


railway  lias  been  most  skilfully  made,  notwith¬ 
standing  all  the  difficulties  which  must  have  been 
encountered.  On  reaching  Saati  station — well  built 
and  kept  beautifully  clean — we  were  received  by 
a  young  officer,  who  in  very  good  French  told  us 
that  a  telegram  announcing  our  arrival  had  been 
received,  and  that  his  Colonel  was  at  that  moment 
coming  down  the  hill  to  meet  us. 

The  Colonel  soon  appeared,  a  short,  cheerful-look¬ 
ing  man  with  white  hair  and  charming  manners, 
who  at  once  made  us  welcome.  His  French  was 
somewhat  difficult  to  understand,  but  we  soon  be¬ 
came  great  friends.  The  young  officer  we  had  first 
met  asked  if  I  should  mind  riding  a  mule  without 
a  side-saddle,  as  the  road  was  all  up  and  down  hill, 
and  I  should  find  it  very  hot  walking.  I  was  de¬ 
lighted  at  the  offer ;  so  several  mules  were  brought 
for  the  party,  mine  being  led  by  a  young  soldier 
who  had  been  chosen  on  account  of  his  having 
been  brought  up  in  England :  he  told  me  that  his 
father  still  lived  in  London,  but  that  he  had  been 
obliged  to  return  to  Italy  to  serve  his  time  in  the 
army.  Off  we  started,  the  Colonel  leading  the  way 
up  a  steep  hill,  on  the  top  of  which  was  a  battery 
containing  six  big  guns,  two  Gardner  guns,  and 
a  detachment  of  about  one  hundred  men  ;  close 
by  were  the  telegraph  office,  a  pigeon-house  full  of 
pigeons — in  case  of  siege — and  the  infirmary,  con¬ 
taining  twenty-four  beds,  of  which  nineteen  were 


38 


THE  SEA  OF  ISLAM. 


then  occupied.  There  is  always  less  sickness  here 
than  at  Massowah,  owing  to  the  fresh  breeze  which 
is  constantly  blowing  on  this  elevated  spot. 

We  then  rode  down  a  very  steep  place  to  a  small 
iron  bridge  over  a  ravine,  in  which  runs  a  Decau- 
ville  line  connecting  an  outlying  pepper-box  fort 
with  the  railway  station.  After  crossing  the  narrow 
bridge,  we  climbed  to  the  top  of  a  second  hill, 
where  barracks  are  built  for  a  company  of  infantry, 
with  another  battery  containing  ten  guns  pointing 
to  the  west,  the  direction  in  which  the  enemy  last 
appeared.  The  soldiers  were  just  receiving  their 
rations  of  tinned  meat,  ice,  and  wine,  with  which 
they  all  looked  very  contented.  From  this  hill 
we  rode  to  a  small  plateau  overlooking  the  railway 
station.  Here  was  the  soldiers’  mess-hut ;  opposite 
to  it  another  hut  for  the  kitchen  ;  and  behind  this  a 
small  theatre  where  the  non-commissioned  officers 
act  every  Sunday.  The  Colonel  told  me  there  was 
always  great  competition  for  the  women’s  parts. 
Close  to  the  theatre,  on  the  brow  of  the  hill,  we 
were  shown  a  life-sized  statue  of  a  soldier  who  was 
killed  while  fighting  the  Abyssinians,  made  in  red 
clay  by  some  of  his  comrades ;  it  wTas  quite  a  work 
of  art.  On  a  separate  little  mound  stands  the 
officers’  club,  a  pretty,  well -furnished  little  hut, 
with  open  verandahs  all  round ;  in  the  centre 
was  a  large  table  covered  with  newspapers,  and 
at  one  end  a  bar  at  which  every  kind  of  iced. 


THE  BARRACKS  AT  SAATI. 


39 


drink  could  be  bought.  After  partaking  of  the 
latter,  we  left  our  mules  and  walked  across  to  the 
mess  -  room,  a  large  airy  hut,  made,  like  all  the 
others,  of  bamboo.  The  Colonel  persuaded  us  to 
remain  for  breakfast ;  and  as  the  morning  train  was 
returning  to  Massowah  in  a  few  minutes,  the 
officers  all  advised  us  to  stop  till  the  evening,  and 
travel  back  in  the  cool,  a  proposition  to  which  we 
gladly  agreed. 

Breakfast  being  ready,  and  the  punkahs  in  full 
swing,  wye  sat  down,  twenty  -  two  in  all.  The 
officer  who  sat  next  Harry  was  full  of  energy, 
and  after  we  had  finished  an  excellent  meal, 
wanted  to  take  us  to  see  his  company  of  Baslff- 
Bazouks ;  but  the  Colonel  said  it  was  too  hot, 
and  that  wTe  must  put  it  off  till  the  afternoon.  So 
after  some  cigarettes  had  been  smoked,  it  being  the 
usual  hour  for  a  siesta,  our  kind  host  took  us  to 
his  hut,  composed  of  two  rooms,  which  he  put  at 
our  disposal.  He  ordered  the  young  soldier  who 
spoke  English  to  sit  outside  in  case  we  required 
anything ;  and  he  himself,  before  leaving,  saw  that 
everything  had  been  properly  prepared  for  us— a 
big  wooden  tub,  a  little  camp-bed  in  each  room, 
scent  -  bottles  and  articles  cle  toilette  beautifully 
arranged  on  the  table.  The  hut  had  double  walls 
of  matting,  and  was  kept  perfectly  cool  by  a 
strong  breeze  blowing  through  the  passage  be¬ 
tween  them. 


40 


THE  SEA  OF  ISLAM. 


We  slept  from  eleven  to  three  o’clock,  and  were 
only  awakened  then  by  our  sentry  informing  us 
that  the  young  officer  had  come  with  mules  to  take 
ns  to  see  his  company;  so  dressing  hurriedly,  we 
soon  mounted  under  a  broiling  sun.  I  was  begin¬ 
ning  to  wish  the  Bashi-Bazouks  had  never  existed, 
when,  on  turning  a  corner,  we  came  upon  an  Abys¬ 
sinian  caravan  which  had  just  arrived.  It  was  a 
curious  sight :  there  were  about  five  hundred  dark, 
wild-looking  men  and  women,  their  hair  curiously 
entangled,  and  wearing  little  or  no  clothes ;  the 
children,  though  very  dirty,  were  bright-eyed  and 
intelligent-looking.  This  was  said  to  be  the  largest 
caravan  that  had  passed  since  the  Italian  occupa¬ 
tion.  There  were  a  great  number  of  camels  and 
mules,  which  are  used  chiefly  to  carry  the  skins 
and  dhurra  these  people  bring  to  the  coast  to  ex¬ 
change  for  European  wares.  Our  friend  then  took 
us  to  see  his  black  soldiers,  mostly  very  fine  strong¬ 
looking  men.  Their  women  were  in  a  separate 
camp  at  some  distance  from  the  men’s  huts. 

As  the  train  started  at  4.15,  we  went  straight 
to  the  station,  where  the  Colonel  and  other  officers 
came  to  see  us  off.  I  was  given  a  basket  with 
oranges  and  lumps  of  ice :  the  latter  turned  out 
most  useful,  as  in  onr  carriage  was  a  non-commis¬ 
sioned  officer  who  that  morning  had  had  a  sun¬ 
stroke,  and  appeared  very  ill.  At  the  last  station 
but  one  a  young  officer  got  into  our  carriage,  and, 


GENERAL  BORDIGHERA. 


41 


saluting  Harry,  said  in  very  good  English  he  was 
the  General’s  A.D.C.,  and  had  been  sent  by  him  to 
invite  us  to  dinner.  On  reaching  the  pier  he  in¬ 
sisted  on  our  getting  into  his  boat,  and  being  rowed 
to  our  ship  to  dress.  Seven  o’clock  found  us  land¬ 
ing  again  near  the  General’s  quarters. 

The  General,  Antonio  Bordighera,  was  waiting  to 
receive  us  on  the  quay — a  tall,  dark,  handsome  man, 
with  a  firm  look  and  soldier  -  like  bearing.  He 
graciously  offered  me  his  arm,  and  conducted  us 
to  the  house  we  had  called  at  on  the  previous 
evening,  and  which  had  been  built  as  a  palace  by 
a  brother  of  Arabi  Pacha.  At  the  top  of  the 
steps  were  a  number  of  officers,  to  whom  we  were 
introduced  en  masse.  The  General  then  led  us 
into  the  dining-room,  a  large  whitewashed  room, 
placing  me  on  his  right  hand  and  Harry  on  his 
left.  The  band,  which  usually  played  only  on 
Sundays,  was  ordered  out  in  our  honour,  and 
played  beautifully  during  the  whole  evening.  I 
told  the  General  how  I  envied  him  having  such 
good  ice,  and  he  asked  if  we  had  any  on  board ;  and 
hearing  that  such  a  luxury  had  long  been  ex¬ 
hausted,  he  promised  to  send  a  hundred  kilos  the 
next  morning,  and  kept  his  promise.  He  then  ex¬ 
plained  to  me  how,  their  ice-machine  having  broken 
down  two  summers  ago  at  the  very  hottest  time, 
they  had  persuaded  their  Government  to  make  a 
contract  with  an  English  company,  which  sent  them 


42 


THE  SEA  OF  ISLAM. 


ice  regularly  from  Norway,  so  that  they  might  never 
be  without  a  good  supply,  as,  when  the  ice  failed 
them,  the  men  who  were  down  with  fever  died  from 
the  want  of  it.  None  of  the  officers  seemed  the 
least  disheartened  by  the  bad  climate  and  the 
many  deaths  that  had  occurred  among  them.  The 
General  said  that  the  great  thing  was  to  keep  all 
ranks  well  occupied,  and  that  he  had  set  the  men 
to  tree-planting  and  gardening.  A  good  concert- 
room  and  theatre  had  been  built  for  their  amuse¬ 
ment  in  the  evenings.  The  only  guest  besides  our¬ 
selves  was  the  Italian  consul  at  Hodeidah,  who  was 
introduced  to  us  as  our  future  fellow-passenger.  It 
was  getting  late  when  we  took  leave  of  our  host, 
who  insisted  on  escorting  us  to  our  boat. 

The  next  morning  about  forty  Indian  merchants 
came  on  board,  and  at  7.30  we  started.  The  sea 
was  perfectly  smooth,  and  a  strong  south-east  wind 
was  most  refreshing  by  day,  but  had  its  disadvan¬ 
tages  when  we  slept  on  deck  at  night.  To  prevent 
my  sheet  from  being  blown  away  altogether,  I  had 
spread  my  dressing-gown  over  it,  tucking  it  well 
in  :  I  was  somewhat  aghast  the  next  morning  to  see 
that  the  dressing-gown  had  been  blown  up  into  the 
rigging,  and  that  one  of  the  native  passengers  had 
spread  his  carpet  within  a  yard  of  our  mattresses. 
At  10.30  next  morning  we  steamed  into  Hodeidah 
harbour.  The  Italian  consul  very  courteously  asked 
us  to  breakfast  with  him,  adding  that  he  was  a 


HODEIDAH. 


43 


coffee  merchant,  and  could  give  us  the  best  Mocha 
coffee  that  we  had  ever  tasted.  So  it  was  settled, 
and  his  boat  having  come  to  meet  him,  he  took  us 
to  the  shore,  which  was  a  mile  and  a  half  off. 
The  little  pier  was  crowded  with  natives,  a  few 
Europeans,  and  a  good  sprinkling  of  Indian  mer¬ 
chants.  Our  friend  told  us  that  they  so  rarely 
see  European  women  that  I  must  not  be  aston¬ 
ished  at  their  following  us. 

The  little  town  has  a  very  prosperous  appear¬ 
ance  ;  bales  of  goods  are  to  be  seen  in  all  parts, 
but  the  streets  are  far  more  dirty  than  at  Jeddah, 
and  altogether  the  natives  look  less  civilised.  The 
houses  seem  well  built,  with  fine  carved  doors  and 
latticed  windows.  While  waiting  in  the  consul’s 
dining-room  for  breakfast,  I  amused  myself  by 
watching  a  house  being  built  just  opposite.  The 
masons  were  hard  at  work  on  the  walls,  which  were 
already  about  20  feet  high.  The  mortar — a  mixture 
of  mud  and  sand — was  prepared  down  below  by 
young  boys,  and  put  into  small  round  baskets, 
which  they  very  cleverly  threw  up  in  the  air  with 
a  circular  motion  ;  these  were  caught  by  the  masons, 
who,  having  emptied  them  at  once,  threw  them 
down  again ;  and  so  on,  with  great  rapidity,  and 
apparently  no  fatigue  or  effort.  In  the  same  way 
each  brick  was  sent  flying  up  in  the  air,  immedi¬ 
ately  caught,  and  put  in  its  right  place.  Several 
women  passed  while  I  was  looking  out ;  I  noticed 


44 


THE  SEA  OF  ISLAM. 


that  they  were  more  thickly  veiled  than  at 
Jeddah. 

Besides  ourselves  at  breakfast — which  was  very 
plain  but  good — were  an  Italian  clerk,  and  a  wicked¬ 
faced  Italian  who  spoke  French  very  correctly.  He 
had  been  a  surgeon  in  the  Turkish  army  :  a  pretty 
sure  sign  that  he  had  made  things  too  hot  for  him- 
self  at  home.  He  told  me  he  could  procure  me 
any  number  of  cat’s-eyes  or  moonstones,  so  I  gave 
him  an  order  for  several  dozen,  but  I  never  re¬ 
ceived  them.  When  travelling  in  out-of-the-way 
parts,  if  you  want  a  thing,  lay  hands  on  it  at 
once  or  you  will  never  get  it :  in  this  case  he  told 
me  the  stones  would  have  to  be  brought  from  Sana, 
where  he  often  went,  and  we  were  much  tempted 
to  go  overland  to  Aden  and  visit  that  place,  which 
the  consul  said  was  well  worth  seeing ;  but  after 
talking  it  over,  we  thought  it  would  be  too  tiring 
an  undertaking  for  Harry,  who  was  still  an  invalid. 

We  were  advised  to  have  a  native  policeman  to 
escort  us  about  the  town,  and  were  also  offered  an 
Indian  clerk  who  spoke  English.  Much  against 
Harry’s  wish  I  accepted  them  both,  he  having  a 
great  dislike  to  the  showman  class.  I,  on  the  con¬ 
trary,  rather  like  some  one  who  can  tell  me  about 
things.  When  the  clerk  arrived,  he  proved  to  be 
a  shabby,  mean-looking  youth,  with  features  exactly 
like  a  hawk,  the  same  flat  head,  and  nose  hooked 
like  a  beak.  We  sallied  forth,  the  policeman 


THE  CONVICT  OF  HODEIDAH. 


45 


behind,  and  a  few  steps  in  front  “  the  Hawk,” 
deluging  us  with  uninteresting  information  in  a 
low  unmusical  voice.  Everything  was  so  mean  and 
sneaky  about  the  man  that  I  could  see  it  was  all 
Harry  could  do  not  to  dismiss  him  on  the  spot. 
He,  however,  contented  himself  with  some  sarcastic 
remarks,  which  the  other  either  did  not  or  would 
not  understand.  His  one  aim  was  to  hurry  us 
through  the  streets  until  we  came  to  a  miserable 
little  European  warehouse,  to  him  the  chief  object 
of  interest  in  the  town.  He  informed  us  that  over 
a  hundred  years  ago  an  old  woman  lived  in  this 
place  quite  alone,  keeping  a  coffee-house,  no  one 
ever  going  near  her.  “  Then  to  whom  did  she  sell 
her  coffee  ?  ”  asked  Harry  in  a  very  sarcastic  tone, 
which  was  noticed  by  our  guide,  who  nevertheless 
continued,  saying  her  name  was  “  Hodeidah,”  and 
“  all  this  place  came  out  of  her,”  which  he  evidently 
considered  a  triumphant  ending. 

Harry  being  most  anxious  to  see  a  wretched  man 
who  had  been  chained  to  the  ground  for  the  last 
twenty  years  for  some  criminal  offence,  we  passed 
through  an  open  bazaar  with  nothing  interesting  in 
it,  and  came  to  a  burial-place  just  outside  the  town, 
at  the  end  of  which  was  the  prisoner.  He  was  lying 
on  the  bare  earth  with  no  clothes  or  shelter,  and  a 
thick  iron  chain  fastened  to  one  foot.  The  kind- 
hearted  inhabitants  had  often  built  him  a  shed, 
but  no  sooner  was  it  done  than  he  pulled  it  down. 


46 


THE  SEA  OF  ISLAM. 


There  can  be  little  doubt  that  he  is  mad.  He 
is  now  looked  upon  as  a  martyr  and  a  saint.  It 
has  become  a  superstition  that  if  the  inhabitants 
want  to  ensure  success  in  any  enterprise,  they  must 
supply  him  with  food  for  a  certain  time.  Harry 
having  photographed  him,  wTe  returned  to  our  host, 
whom  we  found  in  his  office,  and  who  soon  after¬ 
wards  took  us  on  board  with  a  Parsee  friend  of 
his  who  was  going  to  Aden,  and  for  whom  we  at 
once  conceived  a  violent  dislike.  I  shall  never  forget 
the  journey  back  in  the  dusk  in  the  rickety  open 
boat.  The  two  boys  set  sail,  and  the  boat  heeled 
over  so  much  that  it  was  only  by  constantly 
shifting  our  positions  that  we  saved  her  from 
capsizing.  The  tacking  we  had  to  do  in  order  to 
reach  the  ship  took  us  so  far  out  to  sea  that  we  were 
buffeted  unmercifully  by  enormous  waves,  which 
dashing  over  the  boat  drenched  us  to  the  skin. 

On  the  morning  of  the  5th  of  October  we  left 
Hodeidah,  the  last  port  we  were  to  touch  at  in  the 
Red  Sea,  and  passed  Perim  Island  on  the  afternoon 
of  the  following  day.  The  place  is  English  terri¬ 
tory,  and  is  separated  by  a  narrow  channel  from 
Sheikh  Seyd  on  the  Arabian  coast,  where  the  Turks 
have  built  a  fort  which  completely  commands  the 
island.  The  temperature  had  cooled  considerably, 
being  now  only  88°.  A  strong  current  against 
us  reduced  our  pace  to  four  and  a  half  knots 
an  hour.  The  Captain  expected  we  should  reach 


ARRIVAL  AT  ADEN. 


47 


Aden  in  the  middle  of  the  night ;  but  it  was 
not  till  six  o’clock  next  morning  that  we  woke  up 
and  found  ourselves  at  anchor  off  this  fiery-look- 
ing  spot.  I,  lying  on  my  mattress  feeling  utterly 
tired  out  and  unwilling  to  go  below,  never  noticed 
that  the  sun  was  striking  on  my  uncovered  head, 
when  suddenly  feeling  sick  and  giddy,  I  realised 
that  I  had  got  a  touch  of  the  sun ;  so  I  hurried 
down,  dressed,  and  packed  all  our  things  in  readi¬ 
ness  to  leave  the  wretched  little  “  Messir  ”  for  good. 

Our  Parsee  acquaintance,  who  till  then  had  been 
obliged  to  keep  to  his  cabin,  suddenly  made  his 
appearance,  wearing  his  curious  head-dress  made 
of  shiny  American  cloth  shaped  like  an  exaggerated 
mouthpiece  of  a  whistle.  He  tormented  Harry  with 
all  sorts  of  questions,  and  was  most  gushing  in  his 
offers  to  take  us  ashore ;  so  Harry  came  down  and 
proposed  that  we  should  remain  in  hiding  until, 
tired  of  waiting,  the  man  had  gone  without  us. 
Having  the  day  before  us,  there  was  no  necessity 
to  hurry.  We  settled  our  bill  with  Ibrahim,  who, 
I  need  hardly  say,  was  a  rogue  of  the  first  water. 
He  made  us  pay  £20  for  our  food  alone,  and  having 
written  out  his  bill  in  Arabic,  he  felt  safe,  especially 
as  we  had  made  no  contract  beforehand. 


43 


BOOK  II. 

THE  LAND  OF  ROCKS. 

On  the  7th  of  October  we  landed  at  Aden,  a  place 
so  well  known  that  I  shall  not  describe  it  in  detail. 
My  first  thought  on  seeing  it  was,  “  What  shall  we 
do  with  ourselves  if  we  have  to  wait  here  several 
days  for  the  next  boat  ?  ”  As  it  turned  out,  we 
were  quite  sorry  to  leave  it  in  the  end. 

We  secured  at  the  Hotel  cle  l’Univers  a  large  and 
airy  room,  opening  on  to  a  long  wide  balcony,  at 
the  farther  end  of  which  were  two  beds  entirely 
enveloped  in  mosquito-nets.  We  sat  looking  out 
until  attracted  by  a  little  scratching  noise  on  the 
wall  close  to  my  head.  I  discovered  that  it  was 
caused  by  a  scorpion,  whom  I  at  once  tried  to  dis¬ 
pose  of  by  pushing  him  over  the  balcony.  The 
noise  I  made  in  my  excitement  must  have  been 
too  much  for  the  unnoticed  occupant  of  one  of  the 
beds,  who  unceremoniously  emerged  from  under  the 
folds  of  his  net  and  walked  leisurely  past  us  to  his 


room. 


iaii. 


ADEN. 


AN  OBJECTIONABLE  PARSEE. 


49 


The  effects  of  the  sunstroke  were  making  me  feel 
so  ill  that  the  nice,  one-eyed  old  Arab  servant  who 
was  seeing  to  our  luggage  proposed  I  should  let 
him  give  me  a  foot-bath  of  mustard  and  hot  water, 
which  I  agreed  might  do  me  good.  He  came  back 
with  all  the  necessaries,  and  was  soon  busy  trying 
to  induce  me  to  put  my  feet  in  the  scorching  water, 
when  the  door  was  opened  very  quietly,  and  in 
glided  our  objectionable  Parsee,  who  sat  down  un¬ 
invited  opposite  Harry.  After  a  short  silence  he 
began  asking  innumerable  questions  about  our  plans. 
I  could  see  it  was  all  Harry  could  do  to  keep  his 
temper ;  luckily  the  breakfast-bell  rang,  so  the  man 
had  to  go.  But  his  visits  were  not  to  end  here  ; 
for  later  on  I  was  lying  down  while  Harry  was 
writing  home  letters,  when  in  he  came  again,  with¬ 
out  knocking,  and  took  possession  of  the  most  com¬ 
fortable  chair,  silently  making  an  inventory  of  all 
our  worldly  goods.  In  vain  Harry  said  that  he  was 
busy  and  I  was  ill,  but  our  friend  only  answered, 
“  Oh  yes,”  and  never  stirred ;  at  last  Harry,  unable 
to  stand  it  any  longer,  took  up  his  hat,  murmured 
something  about  posting  letters,  and  showed  him 
the  door. 

Soon  after,  Harry  went  to  write  his  name  in  the 
Governor’s — General  Hogg’s— book,  and  as  soon  as 
he  was  gone,  our  old  Arab  came  in  and  asked  me  in 
very  good  French  “  why  that  Pharisee  was  always 
walking  into  our  room  ?  ”  I  told  him  I  did  not 

D 


50 


THE  LAND  OF  ROCKS. 


know,  and  that  I  wished  he  could  stop  him  doing 
so.  The  old  man  shook  his  head  threateningly,  and 
promised  to  keep  his  eye  on  him ;  and  certainty 
that  one  eye  did  its  work  well,  for  we  never  saw  the 
detestable  man  again. 

Some  time  after,  Harry  returned,  not  having 
found  the  Governor ;  but  a  little  later  a  message 
came  from  Government  House  saying  General  Hogg 
would  like  to  see  him.  Finding  we  were  likely  to 
remain  a  few  days,  the  Governor  at  once  invited  us 
to  go  and  sta}7  with  him,  which  we  did,  spending 
ten  happy  days  under  his  hospitable  roof,  taking 
life  easily,  so  as  to  recruit  our  strength  for  the 
discomforts  that  were  surety  awaiting  us.  As  we 
drove  to  Government  House  we  passed  him  on  his 
way  to  the  town,  where  he  had  suddenly  been 
called,  the  news  having  just  arrived  that  the  Somalis 
had  attacked  Berbera,  which  required  the  immediate 
despatch  of  a  man-of-war,  so  that  if  necessary  the 
British  subjects  might  have  the  means  of  getting 
away. 

Usually  in  the  early  morning  the  General  gave 
me  a  sketching  lesson,  I  being  only  a  beginner,  and 
very  anxious  to  make  as  many  sketches  as  possible 
during  our  journey.  Aden  is  a  wonderful  place  for 
beautiful  lights  and  shades.  In  the  afternoons  we 
drove— the  first  day  to  see  the  tanks  overlooking  the 
town  proper.  It  is  always  supposed  to  rain  only 
once  every  three  years  at  Aden ;  and  this  was  the 


THE  TANKS,  ADEN. 


RAIN  AT  ADEN. 


51 


end  of  the  third  year  during  which  not  a  drop  had 
fallen,  so  that  the  tanks  were  entirely  dry,  and  we 
were  able  to  see  their  great  depth  and  the  ingenious 
arrangements  for  catching  every  drop  of  water  as  it 
trickles  down  from  the  overhanging  rocks.  Oddly 
enough,  two  nights  after,  I  was  awakened  by  feeling 
a  most  refreshing  drip  falling  on  my  face.  The 
long -waited -for  rain  had  come,  making  its  way 
through  the  parched  roof.  I  woke  Harry,  seeing 
most  of  our  things  were  getting  wet,  but  the  only 
remark  he  made  was,  “Never  mind.  You  can’t 
stop  it,  so  go  to  sleep  again.”  It  was  so  true,  that 
the  only  thing  left  for  me  to  do  was  to  push  my 
bed  into  a  drier  corner  and  keep  quiet.  The  rain 
must  have  got  into  some  of  the  bamboos  and  dis¬ 
turbed  the  white  ants,  which  began  increasing  their 
already  loud  scratching.  They  are  ingenious  in¬ 
sects,  and  build  lovely  little  mud  tunnels,  looking 
like  veins,  along  the  walls,  wherever  they  cannot 
find  ready-made  dark  passages. 

I  had  noticed  that  the  Somalis  often  wore  skin  rugs 
thrown  round  them,  and  I  was  anxious  to  buy  one ; 
so  one  day  we  did  a  little  shopping,  and,  in  spite  of 
their  decided  smell,  I  was  pleased  to  secure  a  couple 
made  of  antelope-skins,  beautifully  tanned,  with  the 
edges  cut  and  plaited  into  long  fringes. 

One  evening  we  were  taken  to  see  some  acting  in 
barracks,  and  on  another  beautiful  moonlight  night 
we  steamed  about  the  harbour  in  the  General’s 


52 


THE  LAND  OF  ROCKS. 


launch.  That  was  the  first  time  I  had  ever  seen 
the  Southern  Cross,  and  I  own  I  was  disappointed, 
as  I  had  quite  expected  something  far  more  brilliant 
and  definite  in  form. 

The  morning  of  October  the  17th  found  me  amain 
packing  and  getting  ready  for  a  start,  with  the  help 
of  “  Qui  hai,”  as,  from  hearing  the  General  call 
him,  I  always  named  his  Indian  servant.  I  only 
found  out  afterwards  that  it  was  not  the  man’s 
name  at  all,  but  simply  the  Hindustani  for  “  Who 
is  there  ?  ”  a  call  equivalent  to  “  Come  here.”  This 
of  course  remained  a  standing  joke  against  me,  like 
something  of  the  same  sort  that  happened  to  me  up 
the  Nile,  where  I  was  riding  a  donkey  which  was 
followed  by  its  foal.  The  donkey-boy  would  con¬ 
tinually  beat  the  poor  beast,  making  it  go  too  fast 
for  the  baby  -  legs  to  follow ;  so  airing  my  best 
Arabic,  I  said  to  him,  “  Beshivaish  ”  (gently),  to 
which  he  replied,  “  Hddir”  (meaning,  “  I  am  here  to 
obey  your  commands  ”) ;  but  this  was  a  little  beyond 
my  Arabic,  and  thinking  he  was  answering  me  in 
English,  I  said,  “  No,  not  harder,  but  softer.” 

After  lunch  the  General  took  us  in  his  steam- 
launch  on  board  the  “Java,”  bound  for  Zanzibar. 
Some  of  my  friends  who  know  Aden  will  smile 
when  I  tell  them  we  were  very  sorry  to  leave  the 
shelter  of  its  barren  rocks  ;  but  then  perhaps  they 
did  not  stay  with  that  most  charming  and  kind  of 
hosts,  General  Hogg  ;  nor  had  they  probably  had 


53 


ON  BOAKD  THE  “JAVA.” 

the  experience  of  sixteen  days  in  the  Red  Sea  in 
one  of  the  hottest  months,  on  such  a  miserable 
little  cockle-shell  as  the  “  Messir.” 

Our  new  Captain,  a  cheery  old  salt,  took  me  down 
to  see  our  cabin,  which  looked  terribly  small.  The 
first  thing  that  caught  my  eye  was  a  large  basin 
under  my  berth  full  of  a  moving  mixture  of  treacle 
and  live  cockroaches  !  I  had  been  flattering  myself 
that,  now  we  were  on  board  an  English  ship,  I 
should  no  more  be  haunted  by  these  brown  mon¬ 
sters  that  come  creeping  all  over  one  the  moment 
the  lights  are  put  out,  eating  even  one’s  boots  and 
gloves :  almost  the  only  thing  safe  from  their 
ravages  being  real  Russia  leather.  I  told  the  Cap¬ 
tain  that  nothing  would  induce  me  to  sleep  in  my 
cabin,  but  he  tried  to  console  me  by  telling  me 
they  caught  hundreds  every  night. 

I  then  took  a  look  round  at  our  fellow-passengers, 
and  soon  made  out  with  the  CajDtain’s  help  who  they 
all  were.  Two  young  men  sitting  together  were 
Mr  Gedge  and  Mr  Jackson — the  latter  a  naturalist 
— who  were  joining  the  East  African  Company. 
Then  came  two  young  missionary  girls,  chaperoned 
by  a  converted  black  boy  of  eight  in  European 
clothes.  Besides  these  were  two  other  missionary 
passengers — one  a  layman  sent  out  to  teach  the 
natives  to  build  houses,  and  the  other  a  young 
clergyman  full  of  energy  at  the  thought  of  all  the 
converts  he  was  going  to  make.  There  was  also  a 


54 


THE  LAND  OF  ROCKS. 


German  naval  officer  on  his  way  to  Zanzibar  to 
take  charge  of  a  man-of-war ;  and  lastly,  a  Turk, 
the  ex-governor  of  Hodeidah,  sent  by  his  Govern¬ 
ment  on  a  mission  to  the  Sultan  of  Zanzibar. 

Every  nook  and  corner  in  the  forepart  of  the 
ship  was  taken  up  by  Indian  merchants  and  cargo, 
so  that  we  could  not  get  away  from  the  stern ;  and 
there  being  generally  a  head-wind,  the  odours  that 
reached  us  were  sometimes  overpowering. 

I  was  thankful  to  find  that  besides  our  being 
allowed  to  sleep  on  deck,  our  meals  were  all  served 
on  the  top  of  the  big  skylight,  ingeniously  converted 
into  a  table  ;  for,  although  the  weather  was  very 
fine  and  warm,  there  was  a  continual  chopping 
motion  which  very  much  upset  some  of  us. 

That  night  the  steward  made  up  our  beds  by 
putting  two  long  benches  side  by  side,  which  re¬ 
minded  me  of  a  wooden  cot.  Harry  and  I  had 
ours  put  under  the  lee  of  the  Captain’s  cabin, 
while  the  missionary  girls  were  settled  alongside 
the  skylight,  on  which  the  men’s  mattresses  were 
strewed  about.  It  always  amused  me  to  watch  the 
layman  taking  possession  of  the  place  next  the 
girls,  and  tucking  in  the  one  nearest  to  him,  for  the 
nights  were  very  cold.  After  retiring  to  our  cabins 
we  all  reappeared  in  our  night -attire.  The  poor 
young  women,  being  very  shy  and  modest,  always 
covered  themselves  with  a  lot  of  useless  garments 
to  make  the  journey  from  their  cabin  to  their  im- 


CAPE  GUARDAFUI. 


“  THE  THING  THAT  BITES.”  55 

provised  beds — wraps  which,  as  soon  as  they  had 
jumped  in  and  got  under  the  bed-clothes,  had  to  be 
dragged  out  piece  by  piece.  The  worst  of  sleeping 
on  deck  was  having  to  turn  out  so  early  on  account 
of  the  swabbing  which  began  at  daybreak.  This 
did  not  matter  to  the  men,  who  walked  about 
in  pyjamas  with  bare  feet  till  nearly  breakfast¬ 
time  ;  but  we  poor  women  had  to  go  down  to 
the  fusty  cabins  and  dress  at  once,  feeling  more 
dead  than  alive. 

We  soon  made  friends  with  Mr  Geclge  and  Mr 
Jackson.  The  latter  had  already  been  twice  on  this 
coast ;  and  after  his  first  trip  he  was  shipwrecked 
on  his  homeward  journey,  losing  all  his  possessions, 
amono-st  them  a  valuable  collection  of  birds  and 

O 

butterflies.  He  said  that  Rider  Haggards  account 
of  the  shipwreck  in  ‘  She  ’  was  founded  on  his 
adventure,  and  that  “The  thing  that  bites”  in 
‘  Maiwa’s  Revenge  ’  also  really  existed.  It  had 
been  brought  to  the  east  coast  of  Africa  by  some 
Englishmen  for  the  purpose  of  trapping  lions ;  and 
when  they  left  the  country  they  gave  it  to  a  chief, 
who  made  use  of  it  to  punish  his  concubines  by 
putting  one  of  their  hands  in  and  maiming  them 
for  life.  The  description  he  gave  us  of  Kilima 
Njaro,  and  more  especially  of  Tavata,  the  settlement 
at  its  foot,  made  us  seriously  think  of  joining  their 
party,  and  going  so  far  with  them ;  but  when  he 
said  it  would  take  quite  three  weeks  to  get  the 


56 


THE  LAND  OF  ROCKS. 


necessary  things  and  porters  together,  we  found 
our  time  was  too  limited.  I  am  glad  now  we  did 
not  go,  as,  had  we  done  so,  we  should — as  it  turned 
out — have  missed  our  trip  across  Madagascar. 

On  October  the  19th  we  passed  Cape  Guardafui, 
and  got  our  only  glimpse  of  the  Somali  coast — an 
uninteresting  mass  of  bare  stratified  rock,  the  ap¬ 
pearance  of  which  fully  j  ustified  the  want  of  interest 
the  land-grabbers  of  Europe  have  hitherto  taken 
in  this — nearly  the  only  unannexed — part  of  the 
African  littoral.  So  small  is  this  interest,  that 
Cape  Guardafui — a  point  made  by  all  ships  bound 
southwards  and  eastwards  from  the  Red  Sea — does 
not  even  boast  a  lighthouse.  It,  however,  affords 
shelter  to  a  nice  little  anchorage  on  its  south  side, 
which  might  be  of  use  in  the  northern  monsoon, 
but  for  the  fact  that  the  natives  have  an  unpleasant 
habit  of  boarding  all  unarmed  ships  that  bring  up 
there,  and  murdering  their  crews.  In  justice  to  the 
Somalis,  however,  it  is  only  fair  to  say  that  this 
custom  originated  in  the  behaviour  of  a  certain 
crew,  whose  ship  having  got  into  difficulties  put 
in  for  repairs,  in  which  they  were  helped  by  the 
inhabitants ;  but  on  the  latter  demanding  pay¬ 
ment,  they  were  politely  pushed  overboard,  and 
threatened  with  a  closer  acquaintance  with  the 
ship’s  muskets  if  they  ventured  to  return. 


BOOK  III. 


THE  LAND  OF  BONDAGE. 

At  2.30  p.m.  on  the  23d  of  October  we  crossed  the 
equator,  and  on  October  the  25th,  at  8  a.m.,  we 
anchored  at  the  entrance  of  Lamu  harbour,  the 
water  being  too  shallow  to  admit  of  our  going  in. 
On  our  right  was  Manda  Island,  covered  with  low 
bushes  and  baobab  -  trees ;  and  on  our  left  Sheila 
Point,  the  extreme  end  of  which  is  a  sandy  hillock 
which  used  to  be  covered  with  skulls,  the  result 
of  some  native  battle,  but  now  only  a  few  are  to  be 
seen,  as  most  of  them  have  been  taken  away  by 
the  doctors  of  the  English  coasting  vessels.  The 
town  of  Lamu  could  not  be  seen  from  our  anchor¬ 
age,  being  hidden  by  the  land  jutting  out  into 
the  harbour  on  which  Sheila  village  is  built  —  a 
picturesque  spot,  its  low  square  huts  roofed  with 
dried  palm-leaves  of  rich  grey  and  brown  tints. 
Just  behind  the  village  is  a  grove  of  cocoa-palms, 
beneath  which  grows  very  luxuriant  vegetation. 

The  Captain  telling  us  that  we  could  not  get 


58 


THE  LAND  OF  BONDAGE. 


away  before  night,  Harry  and  I  decided  to  land  on 
Sheila  Point,  so  as  to  leave  the  whole  afternoon  for 
visiting  Lamu.  There  were  several  leaky,  rickety, 
“  dug-out  ”  canoes  round  the  ship,  whose  native 
crews  were  most  anxious  to  take  us  ashore.  We 
chose  the  safest-looking  one,  an  outrigger  less  than 
two  feet  wide.  It  is  difficult  enough  under  any  cir¬ 
cumstances  to  get  into  a  canoe,  still  more  so  when 
it  is  a  “  dug-out  ”  kept  in  continual  motion  by  the 
sea.  Having  at  last  seized  the  right  moment  and 
safely  jumped  in,  we  found  ourselves  ankle-deep 
in  water,  with  nothing  to  sit  on  but  our  wet  heels. 
The  owner  set  the  sail,  if  it  could  be  called  a  sail, 
being  only  about  three  feet  square,  and  made  out 
of  dirty  rags  put  together  anyhow ;  nevertheless,  it 
tilted  our  canoe  to  a  most  unpleasant  angle.  As 
soon  as  her  old  cracked  bottom  touched  the  beach 
we  were  encircled  by  a  troop  of  natives,  all  most 
anxious  to  carry  us  ashore,  which  they  finally 
did. 

We  had  never  met  a  more  cheery  lot  of  natives, 
amusing  themselves  like  children  with  a  baby  por¬ 
cupine,  which  they  abandoned  to  escort  us  through 
the  village.  I  noticed  it  was  the  women  who 
carried  the  water  from  the  wells  and  did  all  the 
heavy  work.  We  photographed  a  group  round  a 
well,  a  proceeding  they  did  not  at  all  appreciate, 
for  most  of  them  ran  away ;  while  some  of  the 
younger  ones  left  their  great  round  earthenware 


SHELLA  POINT. 


LAMU  NATIVES. 


59 


water-pots  to  follow  us,  dancing  and  singing  round 
us.  Most  of  them  had  the  hem  of  their  ears 
pierced,  and  a  quantity  of  small  silver  rings  in¬ 
serted.  They  also  make  a  hole  where  earrings  are 
usually  worn ;  and  their  object  being  to  get  it  as 
large  as  the  lobe  of  the  ear  will  stretch,  they  insert 


Natives  of  Lamu. 


rolls  of  rags,  and  increase  the  size  of  the  roll  until 
the  hole  is  as  large  as  a  two-shilling  piece.  Some  of 
the  richer  ones  had  flat  pieces  of  roughly  worked 
silver  fixed  to  these  rolls.  All  the  married  women 
wore  a  small  silver  button  passed  through  the  nos- 


60 


THE  LAND  OF  BONDAGE. 


tril,  taking  it  out  only  if  they  become  widows. 
They  all  plait  their  short  woolly  hair  in  ridges 
going  from  the  forehead  to  the  nape  of  the  neck, 
and  the  hair  not  being  more  than  an  inch  long, 
the  plaits  lie  flat  to  the  head.  I  saw  a  few  men 
sitting  on  their  heels  in  one  of  the  huts  sewing,  but 
most  of  them  seem  to  spend  their  time  smoking  in 
their  doorways.  As  we  passed,  they  got  up  and 
came  forward  to  shake  hands  with  Harry  in  the 
most  solemn  and  ceremonious  way. 

After  a  rather  perilous  return  journey  we  reached 
the  vessel  in  time  for  lunch  ;  after  which  the  Cap¬ 
tain  sent  us  to  Lamu  in  his  boat.  It  took  us 
three  -  quarters  of  an  hour’s  sailing  to  get  there. 
Opposite  the  town,  and  about  half  a  mile  from  it,  is 
a  mangrove-swamp  of  a  most  beautiful  green,  which 
was  very  soothing  to  our  eyes  after  the  glare  of  the 
sea,  but  I  fancy  rather  a  dangerous  neighbour  to  live 
near. 

We  were  carried  ashore  by  the  crew  through 
deep  mud  and  over  heaps  of  decomposing  matter, 
and  found  ourselves  at  the  English  Vice-Consulate. 
One  wondered  how  any  civilised  being  could  live  in 
this  dirty  unhealthy  place,  and  yet  I  was  told  that 
Captain  Haggard,  who  was  consul  here  for  some 
time,  was  quite  sorry  to  leave  it.  One  part  of  the 
town  is  composed  of  well-built  Arab  houses,  whose 
overhanging  upper  storeys  give  a  twilight  gloom  to 
the  streets  even  on  the  brightest  day.  Most  of  the 


MOMBASA 


LAMU  BAZAAR. 


61 


commerce  is  carried  on  by  the  Indian  community, 
who,  whenever  we  passed  any  of  them,  ran  into  a 
doorway  or  crouched  near  the  walls,  dragging  their 
children  after  them,  I  was  told  for  fear  of  our  casting 
the  evil  eye  on  them.  We  then  walked  through  the 
native  village  and  bazaar,  causing  great  excitement 
— the  women  peeping  at  us  from  their  huts,  calling 
out,  “  Bibi,  sambo ”  (“  Good  day,  lady”) ;  but  if  we  ven¬ 
tured  too  near,  they  ran  away  laughing  and  scream¬ 
ing.  Most  of  the  elder  ones  wore  bright-coloured 
cotton  stuffs  thrown  loosely  round  them,  making 
them  look  very  picturesque  with  their  grey  hair. 
The  bazaar  was  a  very  poor  affair ;  the  sellers 
squatted  on  the  ground  before  the  big,  flat,  round 
baskets,  filled  with  seeds  and  roots  of  various  kinds. 
Little  red  capsicums,  looking  like  minute  shrimps, 
seemed  a  favourite  vegetable,  if  one  could  judge  by 
the  quantity  on  view. 

We  met  several  Somalis,  fine  strong-looking  men, 
who  all  wore  daggers,  beautifully  mounted  in  silver, 
slung  round  their  waists.  Theirs,  I  was  told,  was 
the  only  tribe  whose  members  were  allowed  to  enter 
the  town  armed.  Here,  again,  the  men  stopped  us 
to  shake  hands. 

Having  seen  all  the  curiosities  of  Lamu,  we  went 
back  to  our  boat,  thankful  to  get  afloat  again.  It 
took  us  over  an  hour  to  reach  the  ship,  the  men 
alternately  rowing  and  landing  to  tow  us.  On 
our  return  we  found  on  board  a  black  man,  dressed 


62 


THE  LAND  OF  BONDAGE. 


as  an  English  clergyman,  talking  to  our  young  mis¬ 
sionary,  who  looked  extremely  depressed,  having 
just  received  orders  to  go  up  country  with  this 
companion,  and  take  the  place  of  an  English  mis¬ 
sionary  at  an  inland  station  who  with  his  wife  had 
been  murdered  by  the  natives  they  were  trying  to 
convert.  Our  poor  fellow-traveller  had  already  been 
taken  on  shore,  and  shown  the  bed  on  which  the 
victims  had  been  murdered.  It  seemed  to  me  a 
delicate  attention  on  the  part  of  the  black  mis¬ 
sionary,  receiving  the  enthusiastic  young  one  with 
all  these  details  !  I  have  often  wondered  whether, 
before  leaving  home,  these  out-of-the-way  places 
are  described  to  would-be  missionaries  in  glowing 
colours  ;  for  I  know  they  are  not  entirely  at  liberty 
to  choose  where  they  are  to  go,  as  one  of  the  mis¬ 
sionary  girls  told  me  she  had  asked  to  go  to  the 
Mauritius,  where  she  had  friends,  whereas  she  had 
been  sent  instead  to  the  unhealthy  east  coast  of 
Africa. 

Soon  after  we  anchored,  Mr  Jackson  and  Mr 
Gedge  started  on  a  little  shooting  expedition  to 
Manda  Island — to  unstiffen  their  legs,  they  said. 
They  returned  very  tired,  with  one  or  two  par¬ 
tridges,  and  the  hoofs  of  the  smallest  gazelle  that 
is  to  be  found  in  Africa,  which  they  gave  me.  The 
bag  was  hardly  worth  the  long  rough  walk  in  such 
stifling  heat. 

The  next  day,  at  8  a.m.,  we  got  under  way — a 


MOMBASA  ISLAND. 


63 


most  glorious  morning,  with  a  cool  breeze ;  but  no 
sooner  had  we  left  the  shelter  of  Sheila  Point  than 
a  heavy  swell  came  on,  making  some  of  us  feel  we 
liked  solitude ;  and,  selecting  retired  corners,  we 
sat  silently  expecting  the  worst,  which,  alas  !  often 
came. 

On  October  the  27th,  at  8  A.M.,  we  approached 
Mombasa,  and  steered  straight  for  a  pillar  erected 
b}’  Yasco  da  Gama ;  then  turning  sharp  to  the 
right  through  a  very  narrow  passage,  we  entered 
the  lovely  little  harbour  in  which  Mombasa  Island 
is  situated.  In  it  was  a  ship  at  anchor  belong¬ 
ing  to  the  Sultan  of  Zanzibar,  and  lent  by  him 
to  the  East  African  Company  to  enable  them  to 
communicate  with  his  island  in  case  of  emergency. 

The  view  of  the  island  from  the  ship  was  lovely. 
The  part  of  the  town  that  overlooks  the  harbour 
is  built  on  the  crest  of  a  high  rocky  bank  rising 
abruptly  from  the  water,  in  every  crevice  of  which 
hung  festoons  of  creepers  laden  with  flowers  of  bril¬ 
liant  colouring.  The  old  fort,  with  its  bastioned 
walls  towering  over  all,  looked  most  imposing,  though 
probably  useless  against  modern  weapons.  The 
houses,  seen  from  the  ship,  appeared  well  built  and 
clean  with  their  whitewashed  walls ;  while  a  little 
to  the  right  the  native  village  spread  itself  under 
the  shade  of  cocoa-palms  and  mango-trees.  On  the 
mainland,  which  is  connected  with  the  north  of  the 
island  by  a  short  causeway,  is  the  mission  station 


64 


THE  LAND  OF  BONDAGE. 


with  its  little  houses  built  like  Swiss  chalets  in 
beautiful  park-like  grounds. 

On  the  south  side  of  the  island  is  a  very  broad 
channel,  which  we  were  told  will  be  the  entrance 
when  the  new  harbour  is  made,  which,  besides  being 
more  easy  of  access,  will  be  far  more  sheltered  and 
roomy  than  the  northern  one  now  in  use.  The 
coral-reefs  fringing  this  coast  make  the  entrances 
to  all  these  ports  very  difficult.  In  the  lagoons 
formed  by  them  the  water  is  most  beautifully  calm, 
but  not  always  deep  enough  for  vessels  of  any  size  ; 
so  that  only  the  native  dhows  can  take  advantage  of 
them  to  carry  on  their  coasting  trade  in  all  weathers. 

As  soon  as  we  anchored,  the  mission  boat  was  seen 
putting  off  and  coming  towards  us.  In  her  was  the 
founder  of  the  mission  and  one  of  the  ladies,  who 
came  on  board  to  carry  off  to  the  fold  the  two 
young  girls,  their  little  black  chaperon,  and  the  lay¬ 
man.  When  they  had  left,  the  Captain  took  us 
ashore  to  see  Mr  Mackenzie,  who  was  manao-ino-  the 
British  East  African  Company’s  base,  and  so  was  the 
connecting-link  between  the  explorers  and  England. 
We  landed  on  a  steep  stony  incline,  leading  up  to 
an  open  space  overlooking  the  harbour,  which  Mr 
Mackenzie  afterwards  told  us  he  intended  to  plant 
and  make  into  a  shady  square ;  then  walking  down 
a  clean  wide  street,  we  soon  reached  the  head¬ 
quarters  of  the  Company,  a  good  -  sized,  white¬ 
washed,  airy  Arab  abode. 


MOMBASA. 


EXPLORERS  AT  MOMBASA. 


65 


While  Me  were  sitting  with  Mr  Mackenzie,  three 
men  came  whom  there  was  no  mistaking  for  any 
persons  but  explorers.  The  first  we  were  intro¬ 
duced  to  was  Count  Teleki,  a  tall  handsome  man, 
with  a  charming,  weather  -  beaten,  sunburnt  face, 
hair  cropped  quite  short,  wearing  an  Arab  skull- 
cap,  his  flannel  shirt  unbuttoned  in  front,  and 
sleeves  rolled  up  over  the  elbows.  I  was  told  after¬ 
wards  that  when  he  and  his  companions  arrived  at 
Mombasa  after  two  years  of  hard  travelling  up 
country,  they  had  worn  all  their  clothes  to  rags, 
and  that  the  Count  had  made  his  entry  into  the 
town  in  a  pair  of  curiously  made  red  cotton 
breeches,  and  nothing  else.  He  owned  that,  find¬ 
ing  himself  so  near  civilisation  with  only  rags  to 
his  back,  he  allowed  two  of  his  men  to  put  together 
this  useful  and  picturesque-looking  garment. 

His  companion,  Herr  von  Hoknel — a  young  naval 
officer  who  had  been  sent  by  the  Crown  Prince  of 
Austria  to  survey  the  country — was  a  tall,  intelli¬ 
gent-looking  young  man,  who  looked  quite  civilised 
in  a  good  European  suit  of  clothes  which  he  had 
taken  the  precaution  of  leaving  at  Mombasa  on  his 
way  up  country.  They  undertook  this  journey  to 
try  and  discover  the  actual  position  of  the  Lake 
Samburu  in  the  Massai  country,  and  found  there  was 
no  such  thing  as  a  Lake  Samburu,  but  that  Sam¬ 
buru  was  the  name  of  a  district  in  which  were  two 
lakes.  I  unfortunately  have  forgotten  the  native 

E 


66 


THE  LAND  OF  BONDAGE. 


names,  but  they  meant  the  “Black”  and  the 
“White”  Lakes.  Count  Teleki  rechristenecl  them 
Lake  Rudolph  and  Lake  Stephanie,  by  which  names 
they  now  appear  on  the  map.  The  explorers  had 
several  times  to  fight  their  way,  having  encountered 
various  unfriendly  tribes  who  would  not  let  them 
proceed. 

The  third  man  to  whom  Mr  Mackenzie  introduced 
us  did  not  belong  to  their  party,  and  it  was  only 
afterwards  we  heard  all  about  him.  He  had  ar¬ 
rived  the  day  before  from  Kilima  Njaro,  where  he 
had  been  sent  by  the  German  East  African  Company 
the  year  before ;  and  when  the  quarrels  began  with 
the  natives,  he,  like  all  the  others,  came  down  to  the 
coast,  thankful  to  escape  with  his  life.  He  looked 
quite  the  wild  man  of  the  woods,  with  his  long  hair 
and  beard,  and  a  little  monkey  nestling  in  his  arms, 
a  faithful  little  companion  that  he  had  taken  up 
country  with  him,  and  that  never  left  him. 

He  was  said  to  be  a  Pole,  whose  father  had  been 
sent  to  Siberia  for  some  political  offence,  and  whom 
the  son  had  succeeded  in  rescuing,  when  they  were 
overtaken  by  Cossacks,  who  shot  the  father.  The 
boy  roamed  about  Siberia,  keeping  himself  alive  for 
seven  years  by  the  help  of  his  gun ;  but  at  last  he 
managed  to  escape  to  Austria,  where  later  on  he 
accepted  the  offer  of  the  Germans  to  join  their  Com¬ 
pany  in  Africa. 

I  have  rather  drifted  from  my  description  of 


MOMBASA. 


67 


Mombasa.  Mr  Mackenzie  sent  us  to  see  the  place 
with  a  black  boy,  who  asked  Harry  at  once  if  he 
was  ever  in  the  Sudan.  It  turned  out  that  he  was  a 
Sudanese,  who  had  been  up  the  Nile  during  the 
fighting,  and  thought  he  recognised  Harry.  He 
took  us  through  a  street  where  all  the  shops  were ; 
but  finding  nothing  interesting,  we  walked  on  till 
we  reached  the  outskirts  of  the  town.  There  the 
thick  and  luxuriant  vegetation,  with  its  tangle  of 
creepers  from  tree  to  tree,  effectually  blocked  the 
way,  and  obliged  us  to  retrace  our  steps. 

Coming  back,  we  met  our  Captain  in  the  town, 
who  told  us  we  must  start  early  that  afternoon. 
I  was  very  much  disgusted  at  this  news,  as  Mr 
Mackenzie  had  promised  to  take  us  to  the  other 
side  of  the  island  and  show  us  the  new  slave  settle¬ 
ment  he  was  forming.  A  great  number  of  slaves 
had  been  captured  and  sent  there  the  day  before, 
and  he  offered  me  one  of  the  little  black  boys  to 
take  back  to  England  with  me,  an  offer  I  thought  it 
advisable  not  to  accept. 

Again  we  were  nearly  tempted  to  go  up  country, 
Mr  Mackenzie  asking  us  to  accompany  him  on  his 
trip  to  the  first  settlement  belonging  to  the  Com¬ 
pany  ;  but  the  limited  time  at  our  disposal  again 
forced  us  to  refuse.  All  the  Arab  houses  in  Mom¬ 
basa  had  massive  carved  doors,  and  we  were  anxious 
to  buy  one  to  send  home  ;  but,  thanks  to  our  restless 
Captain,  we  had  no  time  to  do  anything. 


68 


THE  LAND  OF  BONDAGE. 


We  got  back  in  time  to  say  good-bye  to  Mr  Gedge 
and  Mr  Jackson,  who  were  disembarking  there, 
and  soon  afterwards  I  was  most  interested  in  watch- 
ins;  the  Count  and  his  escort  cominsf  on  board :  it 
consisted  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  blacks, 
the  survivors  of  the  two  hundred  he  had  taken 
from  Zanzibar.  The  Count  told  us  they  had 
suffered  terribly  from  famine,  and  that  that  was 
the  cause  of  the  death  of  most  of  the  men  he 
had  lost.  His  head  man  was  the  intelligent  So¬ 
mali  who  accompanied  Stanley  on  his  first  expe¬ 
dition-such  a  clever  handsome  face,  looking  very 
picturesque  with  his  many  -  coloured  scarf  thrown 
loosely  round  his  head.  I  photographed  him,  as 
well  as  three  of  their  cannibals — strong,  muscular, 
square -shouldered  men,  with  as  little  clothing  on 
as  possible,  grinning  from  ear  to  ear,  showing  such 
splendid  rows  of  white  teeth. 

It  will  be  a  great  feather  in  the  Englishman’s  cap 
if  he  can  establish  this  new  East  African  Company 
without  any  serious  fighting,  considering  that  all 
those  who  have  been  there  before  have  had  to  fight 
their  way  through  the  country.  Mr  Jackson  told 
us  one  day,  when  we  were  discussing  the  char¬ 
acter  of  the  natives  of  this  coast,  that  they  were 
really  very  easy  to  get  on  with,  if  one  only  took 
the  trouble  to  understand  them  and  treat  them 
kindly. 

The  news  had  come  some  days  before  that  a 


THE  GERMANS  IN  EAST  AFRICA. 


69 


German  missionary  had  been  made  prisoner  farther 
down  the  coast,  and  that  a  ransom  had  been  de¬ 
manded.  Not  long  ago  three  German  sailors  de- 
serted  and  went  up  country  in  emulation  of  Rud- 
yard  Kipling’s  heroes,  with  the  intention  of  form¬ 
ing  a  little  kingdom  of  their  own,  but  fared  even 
worse  than  their  antitypes ;  for  the  natives  not  only 
killed  them,  but  roasted  and  ate  a  piece  of  each,  the 
belief  being  that  if  they  eat  a  bit  of  a  white  man,  it 
imbues  them  with  his  knowledge  and  power. 

The  Germans  seem  to  be  too  unbending  to  get  on 
well  with  the  natives,  and  although  they  may  suc¬ 
ceed  in  establishing  themselves  by  force,  will,  I  fancy, 
always  have  to  exercise  it  to  keep  their  position. 
The  officials  of  the  British  East  African  Company, 
on  the  contrary,  are  doing  their  best  to  make  their 
presence  desired  :  for  instance,  one  of  Mr  Mackenzie’s 
first  acts  on  arriving  at  Mombasa  was  to  build  a  new 
mosque  as  a  substantial  proof  of  British  tolerance. 
A  good  deal  of  care  and  tact  was  required  in  the 
then  state  of  affairs.  Nevertheless  this  picturesque 
little  place  will  some  day  be  very  important,  and 
before  long  the  English  will  have  made  a  line  of 
railway  which  will  enable  one  to  skim  over  the 
unhealthy  band  of  the  coast,  and  find  one’s  self  on 
healthy  ground  with  plenty  of  big  game,  which  will 
soon  become  a  necessity  to  the  Englishman,  whose 
one  pet  home  sport  seems  to  be  marred  by  barbed 


wire. 


70 


THE  LAND  OF  BONDAGE. 


Dinner  that  clay  was  enlivened  by  our  new  fellow- 
passengers,  who  appeared  most  amused  at  coming 
back  to  civilised  ways.  The  Count,  while  smoking 
his  pipe  that  evening,  gave  us  a  most  interesting 
account  of  his  journey,  describing  that  they  had 
got  as  far  as  a  place  which  Emin  Pacha’s  outposts 
had  reached. 

On  waking  on  October  the  28th,  I  was  delighted 
to  find  that  we  were  in  smooth  water,  having 
entered  the  channel,  thirty  miles  wide,  which  is 
between  Zanzibar  and  the  mainland.  The  latter 
looked  flat  and  uninteresting  in  the  far  distance, 
while  the  island  of  Zanzibar,  close  on  our  left,  was 
hilly  and  covered  with  well-grown  trees  and  thick 
bush.  On  one  of  the  hills  a  big  house  was  pointed 
out  to  me  which  had  been  built  by  the  late  Sultan 
for  his  many  wives,  on  his  return  from  Bombay, 
where  he  had  been  exiled  by  one  of  his  thirteen 
brothers,  and  had  there  acquired  civilised  ideas. 
These  to  some  extent  he  tried  to  work  out  in  his 
little  kingdom  when,  after  his  brother’s  death,  he 
resumed  his  reign.  At  his  own  death  he  left  each 
of  these  wives  a  small  private  fortune  and  the  big 
house  to  live  in  all  together. 

At  11  a.m.  we  dropped  anchor  a  short  distance 
from  the  town  of  Zanzibar.  Several  English  and 
German  men-of-war  were  already  in  the  harbour, 
collected  there  on  account  of  the  disturbances  that 
were  continually  springing  up  on  the  mainland,  and 


ZANZIBAR  FROM  ROOF  OF  BRITISH  AGENCY. 


ZANZIBAR. 


71 


our  fellow-passenger,  the  German  officer,  received 
an  order  from  his  Admiral  that  he  was  to  take  com¬ 
mand  at  once,  and  go  and  inspect  some  place  down 
the  coast. 

Having  sent  the  letter  of  introduction  General 
Hogg  had  given  us  for  the  Consul-General,  Colonel 
Euan  Smith,  we  decided  to  wait  for  the  answer 
before  going  ashore ;  so  I  set  to  work  and  sketched 
the  town,  which  looked  very  picturesque,  although 
rather  spoilt  as  a  picture  by  the  Sultan’s  hideous 
palace, — a  high,  square,  whitewashed  building,  with 
a  narrow  wooden  gallery  running  round  the  first 
floor,  looking  entirely  out  of  proportion  to  the  rest 
of  the  buildino’.  It  was  a  decided  contrast  to  the 

O 

English  Consulate.  This  was  built  on  the  extreme 
point  of  land,  so  that  the  waves  were  ever  dashing 
themselves  on  to  the  walls  of  the  terraced  walk 
surrounding  the  house ;  and,  unlike  the  palace,  it 
had  a  wide,  covered,  and  cool  -  looking  verandah. 
The  Captain  told  me  the  latter  had  been  added  by 
Colonel  Euan  Smith,  and  that  it  had  certainly  im¬ 
proved  the  look  of  the  house,  as  well  as  making  it 
cooler  inside.  Not  far  from  the  palace  was  a  most 
hideous  erection  of  brick  and  mortar  in  the  shape 
of  a  dhow,  which  the  late  Sultan  had  had  con¬ 
structed  as  a  tank,  resting  on  the  ground,  looking 
more  than  anything  like  a  gigantic  sarcophagus. 
This  Sultan  was,  from  all  I  heard  about  him,  fond 
of  spending  his  money  and  starting  new  ideas. 


72 


THE  LAND  OF  BONDAGE. 


He  Lad  sent  to  Europe  for  an  ice-machine,  and  had 
electric  light  put  on  the  top  of  a  tower,  both  of 
which  soon  got  out  of  order,  when,  having  no  one 
among  his  people  who  could  repair  them,  he  let 
them  go  to  pieces.  He  had  also  a  curious  mania  for 
clocks,  and  ended  by  hanging  numbers  of  them 
round  his  reception-room.  I  only  hope,  for  the  sake 
of  his  visitors,  they  were  not  all  kept  going  at  the 
same  time.  Imagine  cuckoo-clocks,  cliimers,  and 
others  let  loose  in  the  same  room,  trying  to  keep 
pace  with  each  other ! 

I  noticed  not  far  from  the  “Dhow”  tank  the 
English  flag-staff  planted  in  the  ground,  while  those 
of  other  nations  were  on  the  roofs  of  their  repre¬ 
sentatives’  houses.  It  was  explained  to  me  that 
this  permission  to  plant  the  English  flag  in  the 
ground  was  a  special  mark  of  the  Sultan’s  favour. 

My  sketch  finished,  I  amused  myself  watching 
Count  Teleki  and  his  escort  go  ashore.  It  was  a 
wonderful  sight  to  see  all  his  ivory  piled  up,  nearly 
covering  the  whole  quarter-deck ;  some  of  the  tusks 
were  over  eight  feet  long ;  and  there  was  besides  a 
great  collection  of  heads  and  skins,  which  were  very 
pretty.  His  men  were  all  the  time  singing  and 
laughing,  delighted  to  get  back  after  their  two  years 
of  hardships  up  country. 

Early  in  the  afternoon  an  invitation  came  from 
the  Consul-General,  asking  us  to  go  on  shore  and 
dine  with  him  and  his  "wife,  and  expressing  a  regret 


VISIT  TO  THE  CONSULATE. 


73 


that  their  one  spare  room  was  occupied  till  the  fol¬ 
lowing  da}7,  when  he  hoped  we  should  go  and  stay 
with  them  until  the  arrival  of  the  Messageries  boat, 
which  was  to  take  us  to  Madagascar.  The  heat  and 
glare  on  the  ship  were  so  trying,  that  we  gladly  ac¬ 
cepted  our  Captain’s  offer  to  take  us  ashore  at  once. 

Landing  at  the  little  pier  of  the  British  Agency, 
we  soon  found  ourselves  in  a  cool  and  wide  inner 
passage  on  the  first  floor,  encircling  and  overlooking 
a  covered  central  court.  There  we  were  received  by 
Mrs  Euan  Smith,  her  husband  being  busy  with  the 
mails  which  we  had  brought.  I  cannot  describe  my 
delight  in  sitting  comfortably  at  the  tea-table,  with 
everything  pretty  round  me ;  for  there  were  some 
lovely  things  in  the  house  which  our  hosts  had 
brought  from  India.  We  were  introduced  to  the 
private  secretary,  Mr  Berkeley,  and  to  the  Vice- 
Consul,  Mr  Churchill ;  and,  soon  after,  Admiral 
Fremantle  and  Colonel  Euan  Smith  joined  our 
cheery  party.  As  most  of  them  were  going  to 
church,  and  I  was  advised  not  to  go  myself  on 
account  of  the  stuffy  heat,  I  was  very  glad  when 
Colonel  Euan  Smith  proposed  he  should  take  us 
for  a  drive  in  one  of  the  Sultan’s  carriages.  That 
potentate  kept  about  a  hundred  horses,  only  re¬ 
serving  for  his  personal  use  six  white  thorough¬ 
breds,  and  willingly  lending  any  of  the  others 
to  whoever  asked  for  the  loan  of  them.  So  wTe 
started  in  a  comfortable  landau,  on  what  seemed 


74  THE  LAND  OF  BONDAGE. 

to  me  a  most  perilous  journey  for  any  inhabitants 
that  happened  to  be  walking  in  the  narrow  streets. 
Our  native  driver  simply  charged  down  upon  them, 
turning  the  sharp  corners  as  one  would  iu  a  sleigh, 
shouting  at  the  top  of  his  voice  to  the  people.  At 
one  moment  I  thought  we  must  run  into  a  group 
of  women  sitting  round  a  little  bonfire,  over  which 
they  were  cooking  and  selling  fish ;  but  by  some 
miracle  they  escaped,  as  we  all  did,  and  soon  after, 
we  had  left  the  town  behind  us. 

After  passing  the  barracks,  built  on  an  open 
grassy  space,  we  drove  along  a  lovely  road,  over¬ 
hung  on  both  sides  with  large  mangoes,  palms, 
bamboos,  and  many  other  sorts  of  trees  and  shrubs. 
Everything  seemed  to  me  to  grow  to  a  huge  size ; 
even  the  snails  with  their  pointed  spiral  shells  were 
quite  three  inches  long,  and  four  in  diameter.  The 
mangoes  looked  at  their  best,  covered  as  they  were 
with  their  large  plum-shaped  fruit.  No  other  trees 
to  my  mind  came  up  to  them  in  shape  or  colouring, 
having,  as  they  always  do,  the  autumnal  and  spring 
tints  growing  at  the  same  time ;  and  curiously 
enough,  these  patches  of  tender  green  did  not  seem 
out  of  place  against  the  background  of  dark-green 
and  autumnal  shades.  One  tall  tree  attracted  my 
notice,  as  I  had  never  seen  it  before  :  it  is  called  the 
papaw-tree,  and  has  a  tall  bare  stem  like  that  of  a 
palm,  with  marks  all  up  it  left  by  the  old  leaves 
dropping  off,  and  right  up  at  The  top  was  a  bunch 


A  DRIVE  IN  ZANZIBAR. 


75 


of  large  green  leaves  cut  out  and  shaped  like  a 
fig-leaf,  nestling  under  which  were  clusters  of  fruit 
exactly  like  green  figs.  This  fruit  when  green  is 
cut  in  half,  and  the  milky- white  juice  it  gives  out 
is  rubbed  on  meat  to  make  it  tender. 

A  summer  residence  belonging  to  Colonel  Euan 
Smith  was  the  object  of  our  drive  :  it  was  a  little 
house  surrounded  by  well-laid-out  grounds,  which 
had  all  been  planned  and  planted  by  his  predecessor, 
Sir  John  Kirk.  Everything  had  grown  so  rapidly 
that  it  had  become  too  deeply  shaded,  and  felt  damp. 
After  going  to  see  some  wonderful  coffee-plants  with 
berries  three  times  the  usual  size,  and  a  plantation 
of  pine-apples,  we  walked  to  the  edge  of  a  slope 
overlooking  the  sea,  whence  could  be  seen  a  lovely 
view  of  the  bay,  with  the  projecting  tongue  of  land 
on  which  the  town  is  built,  charmingly  lit  up  by 
the  setting  sun.  Never  having  tasted  the  juice  of  a 
fresh  cocoa-nut,  a  native  was  sent  to  climb  a  palm- 
tree  for  one,  making  him  look  more  than  ever  like 
a  monkey.  On  his  returning  with  the  nut,  it  was 
cracked,  and  a  hole  was  made  in  it,  through  wdiich 
I  sucked  the  transparent  tepid  juice.  I  cannot  say 
I  appreciated  it.  I  had  fondly  imagined  it  was  thick 
and  white,  like  milk,  and  tasted  strongly  of  almonds  ; 
but  no  such  thing,  and  one  sip  was  sufficient  to 
satisfy  me  that  I  did  not  like  it.  Had  it  been  kept 
on  ice  for  some  hours,  and  had  I  been  very  thirsty, 
I  might  have  thought  more  highly  of  it. 


76 


THE  LAND  OF  BONDAGE. 


We  went  a  different  way  home,  so  as  to  have  a 
look  at  a  summer  residence  built  by  the  late  Sultan, 
an  imposing-looking  building,  which  it  made  one  sad 
to  see  on  closer  inspection,  as  here  again  all  was 
going  to  rack  and  ruin.  Not  being  able  to  get  into 
the  house,  we  walked  about  the  grounds,  where  a 
start  had  once  been  made  to  mark  and  plant  out 
a  nice  garden,  which  was  then  left  to  become  a 
wilderness.  Strewed  all  over  the  place  were  drain¬ 
pipes  which  had  been  intended  to  carry  the  water  to 
two  enormous  uncovered  tanks,  built  side  by  side 
as  swimming-baths,  against  the  east  end  of  the 
house,  and  having  flights  of  steps  to  go  from  one 
to  the  other.  Why  there  should  have  been  two 
of  these  swimming  -  baths,  one  next  the  other, 
I  cannot  imagine,  if  it  was  not  that  the  author 
of  these  brilliant  ideas  preferred  to  do  everything 
regardless  of  expense.  Near  the  front  door— like 
preparations  for  a  fair  —  were  swinging-boats  and 
a  huge  merry-go-round,  all  in  good  preservation. 
The  guardian  of  the  place  set  the  organ  going, 
which  immediately  struck  up  “  The  March  of  the 
Men  of  Harlech.” 

We  got  back  a  little  after  dark,  the  hedges  lit 
up  with  thousands  of  fireflies  illuminating  our  road, 
and  producing  a  beautiful  fairy-like  scene  without 
the  little  fairies,  who  I  felt  would  have  been  quite 
in  keeping  had  they  appeared. 

That  night,  after  the  luxury  of  one  of  the  best 


DINNER  AT  THE  CONSUL’S. 


77 


dinners  I  ever  could  wish  to  taste,  and  some  very  good 
music — our  hostess  being  a  real  artist  on  the  piano 
— I  found  it  hard  to  have  to  return  to  our  moving 
home,  alive  as  it  was  with  cockroaches.  It  did  not 
take  me  long  to  undress  that  night,  and  rushing  up 
on  deck,  treading  on  a  goodly  few  of  these  monsters, 
I  took  refuge  in  my  improvised  bed,  where  even  in 
the  open  air  the  heat  was  so  suffocating  that  sleep 
was  out  of  the  question. 

The  next  morning  I  joyfully  finished  our  final 
packing,  and  bade  adieu  to  the  “Java”;  being,  all 
the  same,  sorry  to  leave  our  kind  Captain,  who  had 
done  all  in  his  power  to  make  us  comfortable.  As  we 
were  being  rowed  ashore  a  welcome  and  homelike 
sound  reached  us,  “  God  save  the  Queen  ”  being 
played  on  the  Admiral’s  ship. 

In  the  afternoon  Mrs  Euan  Smith  took  me  out 
in  her  pony-cart.  Passing  the  mission,  I  saw  a 
number  of  little  black  boys  dressed  in  European 
clothes  playing  football.  The  missionaries  educate 
and  keep  the  boys  and  girls  till  they  are  thought  old 
enough  to  marry.  Then  having  chosen  among 
themselves  mates  suited  to  their  own  tastes,  they 
are  given  a  bit  of  ground  to  cultivate,  on  which  they 
erect  a  little  hut,  and  are  there  left  to  increase  the 
community  of  little  black  Christians  to  their  hearts’ 
content. 

That  evening  we  dined  on  board  the  flag-ship,  and 
had  a  most  cheery  time.  The  Admiral  settled  to 


78 


THE  LAND  OF  BONDAGE. 


come  and  fetch  me  next  day,  and  take  me  to  see  a 
clove-plantation  ;  so  having  secured  another  carriage- 
and-pair  of  the  Sultan’s,  we  set  off,  passing  through 
the  northern  end  of  the  town  with  the  same  reckless 
sort  of  driving.  Some  of  the  streets  were  much 
broader,  and  lined  on  both  sides  with  little  shops, 
mostly  containing  European  goods.  Here  I  noticed 
that  many  of  the  women  wore  broad  silver  anklets, 
which,  from  the  way  they  dragged  their  feet  after 
them,  appeared  to  be  very  heavy.  These  slow 
movements  greatly  accentuated  their  usual  look  of 
indolence.  The  inhabitants  of  this  island  are  such 
a  mixed  race  that  it  would  take  pages  to  describe 
them,  but  I  fancy  the  Arab  blood  predominates. 
Having  got  to  the  plantation,  thickly  planted  with 
clove-bushes,  the  fruit  of  which  was  beginning  to 
ripen,  making  the  air  heavy  with  its  strong  aromatic 
perfume,  we  got  out  and  walked  about  along  the 
shaded  paths,  collecting  many  curious  little  plants. 

That  evening,  when  dining  with  Mr  Churchill, 
I  was  told  of  a  sad  tragedy  that  had  happened  not 
long  before  in  Madagascar  to  a  German  naturalist 
and  his  wife.  After  landing  at  Tamatave  and  col¬ 
lecting  their  porters,  they  started  for  the  capital. 
Taking  advantage  of  a  wild  uninhabited  part,  their 
men  stopped  and  asked  for  more  money,  which  we 
are  told  is  a  way  they  have,  and  that  it  is  always 
best  to  give  in  to  them  in  moderation,  as  one  is 
entirely  at  their  mercy ;  but  instead  of  doing  so, 


A  TRAGEDY. 


79 


the  rash  naturalist  threatened  them  with  his  gun, 
which  simply  made  them  take  to  their  heels.  After 
waiting  a  long  time  and  finding  the  porters  had 
deserted  them,  he  told  his  wife  to  wait  for  him 
while  he  walked  on  in  search  of  a  village  where 
he  could  get  other  natives.  The  day  passed,  and 
he  never  returned.  Still  she  waited  for  fear  of 
missing  him,  when  on  the  second  day  her  baby 
died.  After  burying  it  in  the  sand,  she  determined 
to  retrace  her  steps  in  search  of  their  last  halting- 
place — many  weary  miles  back — which  she  reached 
at  last,  and  remained  there  till  she  was  found 
by  other  travellers,  who  took  her  up  to  Antanan¬ 
arivo,  where  after  some  time  her  husband  turned 
up,  having  on  leaving  her  completely  lost  his  way. 

As  we  had  found  it  rather  unpleasant  walking 
in  thin  shoes  in  the  pitch-dark  street,  Mrs  Euan 
Smith  and  I  went  home  in  a  sort  of  chaise  a 
porteurs  carried  on  men’s  shoulders,  making  one 
feel  rather  top-heavy. 

Every  morning  on  getting  up  I  looked  out  of 
my  window  to  see  if  the  Messageries  was  signalled, 
always  hoping  the  evil  day  was  not  yet  come 
when  we  should  have  to  leave  our  comfortable 
quarters ;  but  it  came  at  last. 


80 


BOOK  IV. 

THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 

I. 

On  the  1st  of  November  a  message  arrived  that  we 
were  to  sail  at  1  p.m.  After  taking  leave  of  our  kind 
hosts,  we  went  on  board  the  “  Amazone,”  escorted 
by  Mr  Berkeley.  At  the  head  of  the  gangway  the 
Captain — Commandant  Masset — received  us  most 
graciously,  and  the  French  Consul,  Monsieur  Lacaux, 
whom  we  had  met  on  land,  came  forward  and  in¬ 
troduced  us  to  Monsieur  Le  Myre  de  Yilers,  the 
French  Resident  -  General  in  Madagascar,  a  tall, 
handsome-looking  middle-aged  man,  who  welcomed 
us  like  old  friends.  When  Monsieur  Lacaux  told 
him  we  were  anxious  to  see  as  much  of  the  Mala¬ 
gasy  island  as  was  possible,  he  kindly  volunteered 
to  take  us  under  his  protection,  which  offer  he  cer¬ 
tainly  carried  out,  and  we  can  never  be  sufficiently 
grateful  to  him  for  all  the  trouble  he  took  about  us. 

.  The  size  of  the  “Amazone  ”  delighted  me,  as  did 


MONSIEUR  LE  MYRE  DE  VILERS. 


THE  “AMAZONE”  AND  HER  PASSENGERS.  81 

our  scrupulously  clean  and  airy  cabin,  opening  into 
the  spacious  and  comfortably  furnished  saloon.  In 
this  ship  I  felt  we  should  at  last  have  plenty  of 
room  to  walk  about,  although — as  is  always  the  case 
in  French  ships— the  second-class  passengers  are 
allowed  on  all  parts  of  the  deck,  thus  crowding  up 
the  first-class  accommodation.  Those  on  the  “  Am- 
azone  ”  chiefly  consisted  of  Mauritius  trades-people 
returning  from  visiting  their  French  relations. 
Their  children  were  most  trying ;  and  the  wTorst  of 
them  all  was  a  weedy  spoilt  boy  who  was  continu¬ 
ally  sneaking  round  one’s  chair,  treading  on  or 
knocking  against  one’s  favourite  corn,  while  his 
peevish  mother  was  for  ever  screaming  after  him 
in  a  voice  that  set  one’s  teeth  on  edge.  He  would 
then  attack  the  poor  old  seafaring  piano,  always 
left  on  deck,  and  with  one  finger  bang  out  the  old 
familiar  tune,  “  J’ai  clu  bon  tcibcic  dans  ma  tabatiere ,” 
to  the  delight  of  his  adoring  parent.  I  fear  I  was 
less  admiring,  and  would  willingly  have  wrung  his 
scraggy  little  neck. 

It  was  soothing,  on  the  contrary,  to  watch  the 
Sceurs  de  Charite,  with  their  gentle  movements  and 
contented  peaceful  expressions,  spending  most  of 
their  time  telling  their  beads.  One  of  them  was  a 
very  pretty  young  girl  —  as  some  of  the  officers 
seemed  also  to  think,  for  they  were  often  having  a 
chat  with  “  Ma  Sceur,”  who  looked  so  bashful  and 
bewitching  under  her  spotless,  large,  white  linen 

F 


82 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


cap  with  its  turned -up  points.  Her  destination, 
poor  thing  !  was  to  spend  the  rest  of  her  life  on  the 
deadly  coast  of  Madagascar.  There  is  something 
very  beautiful  in  the  thought  of  these  young  nuns 
leaving  their  native  land  and  going  out  to  such 
unhealthy  climates,  there  to  remain  as  long  as  they 
live — and  some  do  live  to  a  good  old  age  up  country, 
but  rarely  on  the  coast. 

The  first  day  on  board,  while  walking  up  and 
down  the  deck,  our  attention  was  attracted  by  over¬ 
hearing  English  spoken  by  a  man  and  woman.  The 
latter  Harry  recognised  at  once  by  her  dress  as  a 
Malay  from  the  Cape.  We  were  very  much  puzzled, 
wondering  what  they  could  be  doing  on  this  French 
ship  bound  for  Mauritius.  I  determined,  if  a  chance 
offered  itself,  to  enter  into  conversation  with  her, 
which  occurred  the  next  day.  As  I  was  taking  a 
look  round  the  second-class  cabins  I  passed  her,  and 
gathered  that  she  was  trying  to  make  the  steward 
understand  that  she  wanted  some  soup  for  an  in¬ 
valid.  As  she  evidently  could  not  speak  a  word  of 
French,  and  he  was  equally  ignorant  of  English,  I 
stopped  and  offered  to  interpret  for  her.  After  I 
had  explained  to  the  man  what  she  wanted,  she  told 
me  the  soup  was  for  her  sister-in-law,  pointing  to  a 
very  delicate-looking  woman,  who,  unlike  my  dark 
friend,  had  a  pure  white  skin,  but  was  attired  in  the 
same  Dutch-Malay  fashion — a  coloured  cotton  print 
dress,  inflated  by  an  exaggerated  crinoline,  the  bodice 


A  MALAY  FAMILY. 


83 


and  skirt  all  in  one,  shoulders  covered  by  a  bright 
silk  handkerchief  folded  in  a  point,  and  another  to 
match  encircling  the  head  and  forehead,  passing 
behind  the  ears,  entirely  hiding  the  hair,  and  crossed 
loosely  under  the  chin.  The  dark  one  turned  out 
to  be  most  communicative,  and  after  asking  me  to 
sit  down  with  them,  she  explained  that  they  were 
on  their  way  home  from  Mecca.  Her  husband,  who 
was  also  on  board,  was  a  well-to-do  livery-stable 
keeper  and  cab  -  proprietor  at  Kimberley.  They 
had  for  some  time  contemplated  making  the  great 
Mohammedan  pilgrimage  ;  and  being  also  anxious 
to  see  the  capital  of  England,  decided  to  go 
to  Mecca  via  London,  taking  with  them  their 
little  daughter  of  nine,  and  their  young  sister-in- 
law,  whose  husband  undertook  to  carry  on  the 
business  at  home  in  their  absence.  They  had  ac¬ 
complished  both  the  pleasure-trip:  and  the  'pilgrim¬ 
age  ;  but  harrowing  were  the  descriptions  they  gave 
me  of  the  miseries  and  hardships  they  had  to  con¬ 
tend  with.  The  dark  one  told  me  in  a  curiously 
happy  tone  that  her  little  girl  had  died  on  the  way 
back,  but  that  she  could  not  mourn  for  her,  as  she 
had  luckily  died  after  the  pilgrimage  was  over. 
She  then  told  me  that  her  companion,  a  few  days 
before  reaching  Yembo  —  they  having  done  the 
double  pilgrimage  of  Mecca  and  Medina — gave  birth 
to  her  first-born,  and  that  it  was  with  great  diffi¬ 
culty  that  she  had  been  revived  sufficiently  to  reach 


34 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


the  coast.  I  could  well  imagine  the  sufferings  of 
the  poor  woman  laid  up  in  the  desert,  with  no  re¬ 
sources,  and  obliged  to  keep  moving  towards  the 
coast,  riding  on  a  camel — a  beast  that  at  the  best 
of  times  shakes  you  till  you  feel  like  a  bagful  of 
loose  bones.  At  Yembo  they  apparently  took  a 
ship  at  haphazard,  which  landed  them  at  Aden, 
where  they  had  been  advised  to  take  the  French 
boat  to  the  Mauritius,  whence  they  were  told  they 
would  get  the  English  steamer  bound  for  the  Cape. 
Rather  a  round-about  way,  it  seemed ! 

I  had  often  heard  travellers  complain  that  they 
never  got  enough  food  on  French  boats.  It  was  cer¬ 
tainly  not  the  case  on  the  “  Amazone  ” ;  for  in  the 
morning  an  excellent  cup  of  coffee  was  brought  to 
us  before  getting  up,  dejeuner  d  la  fourcliette  was 
served  at  eleven,  and  at  half-past  one  there  was  cold 
luncheon  for  any  one  who  wished  for  it ;  at  four 
o’clock,  tea ;  at  seven,  a  first-rate  dinner ;  and  a 
good  cup  of  coffee  to  finish  up  with,  which  the 
Captain  often  asked  us  to  drink  in  his  cabin,  where 
he  always  kept  a  good  supply  of  most  excellent 
liqueurs,  to  which  he  treated  his  favourite  pas¬ 
sengers.  At  nine  we  finished  up  with  tea  and 
biscuits,  or  un  grogue  for  those  who  preferred  it. 

Having  been  introduced  to  Monsieur  le  Vicomte 
d’Anthouard — Monsieur  de  Vilers’s  secretary — and 
to  Monsieur  George,  the  French  Chancelier  at  Tama- 
tave,  we  five  made  a  select  little  circle,  and  often 


MAYOTTA  ISLAND. 


85 


discussed  the  pros  and  cons  of  our  Madagascar  trip  ; 
Monsieur  de  Yilers  being  most  keen  about  our 
undertaking  to  cross  the  island  from  east  to  west, 
going  as  far  as  the  capital  with  him.  The  diffi¬ 
culty  was  to  get  from  the  west  coast  of  the  island 
back  to  Africa,  there  being  no  communication  from 
that  side  except  by  native  dhows.  We,  however, 
made  up  our  minds  to  go,  and  take  our  chance  of 
finding  some  boat  to  carry  us  across  the  Mozam¬ 
bique  Channel. 

Early  on  the  second  morning  after  leaving 
Zanzibar  we  sighted  the  green  slopes  of  Mayotta 
Island,  one  of  the  largest  of  the  Comoro  group,  and 
by  eight  the  low  black  cliffs  in  which  they  termin¬ 
ated  had  risen  well  above  the  water.  Closely  skirt¬ 
ing  the  land  until  we  reached  the  eastern  end  of  the 
island,  we  turned  to  the  right,  and  wound  our  way 
through  the  reefs  which  nearly  bar  the  narrow 
channel  between  it  and  Zaoudzi  Island,  to  the 
north-east  of  which  we  dropped  anchor.  While 
entering  the  harbour  our  most  erratic  of  Captains 
nearly  ran  down  a  native  boat.  The  poor  owners 
were  in  a  terrible  fright,  but  the  Captain,  taking 
it  for  granted  that  the  natives  must  always  make 
way,  never  even  slackened  his  pace,  and  carried 
away  their  sail  and  broke  their  rudder. 

From  our  anchorage  the  three  islands  of  this  group 
were  well  in  view  :  Mayotta,  green  and  hilly,  dotted 
with  sugar-plantations  and  red-roofed  white  houses 


86 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


nestling  under  tall  trees :  Zaondzi,  a  mere  rocky 
islet,  which  has  attained  an  undue  importance  by 
being  selected  as  the  headquarters  of  the  French 
settlement,  and  contains  the  Government  buildings, 
coal-sheds,  workshops,  &c.  :  and  Pamanzi,  a  minia¬ 
ture  repetition  of  Mayotta,  connected  with  Zaoudzi 
by  a  stone  causeway  running  across  the  shallow 
channel,  and  broken  by  two  rocky  islets. 

There  were  two  French  men-of-war  at  anchor  in 
the  harbour  :  “  Le  Destin,”  commanded  by  Com¬ 
mandant  Michel,  then  acting  as  Admiral  of  the 
station  ;  and  “  Le  Beautemps-Beaupre,”  commanded 
by  Commandant  Le  Dos.  We  met  the  latter  at 
lunch,  he  being  a  great  friend  of  our  Captain ;  and 
as  he  had  asked  us  to  visit  his  ship,  we  promised  to 
go  and  see  him  after  we  had  been  ashore  :  so  he 
settled  to  send  his  boat  to  meet  us  on  our  return. 

A  few  strokes  of  the  oar  brought  us  to  the 
little  stone  pier.  Passing  several  Government 
wharfs,  we  came  to  the  Place,  out  of  which  runs  a 
short  wide  street,  where  there  was  one  shop,  a  cafe, 
grandly  called  “  Hotel  de  France,”  the  hospital,  and 
the  barracks.  At  the  end  of  the  street,  turning  to 
the  right,  we  found  ourselves  in  “  L’Allee  cles  Crabes,” 
as  the  before-mentioned  causeway  is  called.  Having 
plenty  of  time,  and  seeing  that  the  two  little  rocky 
islets  were  inhabited,  we  strolled  on.  The  first  con¬ 
tained  an  Arab  village,  whose  inhabitants  looked 
clean  and  healthy.  We  were  so  accustomed  to 


A  FRENCH  SETTLEMENT. 


87 


hearing  the  natives  salute  us  in  English  wherever 
we  had  been,  that  it  seemed  funny  to  hear  them  say, 
“  Bonjour,  monsieur Continuing  our  walk  along 
the  next  bit  of  causeway  as  far  as  the  second  islet, 
we  entered  a  Malagasy  village,  which  was  not  nearly 
so  clean.  The  people  were  copper-coloured,  and  the 
women  had  long,  straight,  jet-black  hair,  which  they 
plait  very  tightly  ;  their  one  garment  of  cotton  stuff 
they  wore  loosely  draped  round  them. 

On  our  way  back  we  met  Monsieur  Le  Myre  de 
Yilers  walking  about  with  the  Governor,  Monsieur 
Papillon,  who  took  us  to  his  pretty  little  house,  sur¬ 
rounded  by  a  verandah,  and  having  a  thatched  roof, 
which  kept  it  beautifully  cool.  In  his  garden  were 
some  splendid  pomegranate-trees,  the  fruit  of  which 
was  just  ripe.  I  was  allowed  to  feast  on  them,  find¬ 
ing  the  acid  juice  most  refreshing. 

Monsieur  Papillon  told  us  that  the  drinking-water 
for  his  own  use  was  sent  out  to  him  from  France, 
he  not  likino-  to  trust  to  the  water  which  is  brought 

o  iD 

over  by  the  natives  from  Mayotta,  there  being  none 
on  this  island. 

Commandant  Le  Dos  having  sent  his  boat,  Harry 
and  I  went  on  board  the  “  Beautemps-Beaupre.” 
She  was  a  small  ship,  but  everything  was  made 
very  comfortable  on  board.  The  Commandant  was 
most  hospitable,  and  brought  out  his  best  champagne 
to  drink  to  the  success  of  our  journey. 

At  four  we  steamed  out  of  this  fine  harbour 


88 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


by  the  southern  channel.  Several  green  and  well- 
wooded  small  islands  were  passed  before  we  found 
ourselves  well  out  to  sea.  We  then  directed  our 
course  towards  the  north-west  coast  of  Madagascar. 

After  a  gloriously  smooth  night,  we  anchored 
off  Nosy-Be  at  7  a.m.  on  November  the  4th,  in  a 
well-sheltered  roadstead,  with  green  islands  dotted 
around  us.  ( Nosy  signifies  “island”  in  Malagasy.) 
The  scene  was  enlivened  by  many  native  dug-out 
canoes  with  outriggers  attached,  sailing  about  at  a 
tremendous  pace,  looking  like  butterflies  with  their 
many-coloured  sails. 

Nosy-Be  is  a  few  miles  west  of  Madagascar,  and 
is  very  varied  in  appearance,  some  of  the  mountains 
being  rocky  and  barren,  while  others  are  covered 
with  dense  vegetation.  It  is  considered  a  more 
healthy  spot  than  Mayotta,  and  there  is  also  a 
greater  rainfall.  We  were  taken  ashore  to  the  little 
town  of  Hellville  by  a  French  official  who  had  come 
on  board  to  fetch  his  letters.  He  replaces  the 
Governor,  as  the  latter  now  lives  at  Diego  Suarez, 
on  the  east  coast  of  Madagascar.  After  landing 
on  a  fine  stone  pier,  we  walked  up  a  slight  incline 
shaded  by  lovely  mango-trees  to  Government  House, 
where  our  companion  introduced  us  to  his  family. 
They  all  seemed  perfectly  well  and  happy  in  their 
well-built  and  beautifully  kept  home ;  in  fact  he 
told  us  he  had  requested  his  Government  to  leave 
him  as  long  as  possible  on  that  station.  As  we 


NOSY-BE. 


NOSY-BE. 


89 


wished  to  explore  the  neighbourhood,  he  insisted 
on  our  being  accompanied  by  one  of  his  native 
servants,  which  bored  us  extremely,  so  we  got  rid 
of  him  as  soon  as  we  could  politely  do  so. 

At  the  back  of  Government  House  is  a  wide,  long 
boulevard ,  with  double  rows  of  trees.  Looking  on 
to  it  are  the  French  Government  buildings  and 
mission-schools,  each  with  its  own  little  garden  full 
of  bread-fruit  trees,  and  that  acacia  with  bright 
scarlet  dowers  that  the  French  call  flamboyant. 

We  walked  on  for  about  a  mile,  until  we  reached 
a  Malagasy  village,  the  best -built  native  village  I 
had  yet  seen,  all  the  huts  being  constructed  of 
bamboo,  raised  on  piles  about  three  feet  high,  and 
roofed  with  palm  -  leaves.  It  was  inhabited  by 
bright  and  healthy-looking  people,  who  were  par¬ 
ticularly  civil  to  the  strangers.  The  married  women 
wore  the  same  silver  button  in  the  nose  that  I  had 
noticed  on  the  east  coast  of  Africa.  A  little  farther 
on  we  came  to  an  Arab  village.  These  two  races, 
though  living  so  close  to  each  other,  never  mix  nor 
intermarry,  but  nevertheless  are  always  on  good 
terms.  Beyond  this  we  came  to  a  pretty  fountain, 
always  running,  and  providing  plenty  of  good  drink¬ 
ing  -  water,  which  is  brought  by  means  of  pipes, 
from  lakes  on  the  hills,  to  the  town. 

After  walking  for  some  way  through  profuse 
vegetation,  we  sat  on  the  edge  of  a  bank  over¬ 
looking  the  sea,  and  affording  a  view  of  the 


90 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


northern  wooded  slopes  of  the  island.  At  our 
feet,  on  the  tide-washed  mud  at  the  mouth  of  a 
little  river,  was  a  Sakalava  settlement.  Like  the 
other  Malagasy  village,  it  was  built  on  piles,  and 
with  far  more  apparent  reason,  for  at  high  tide  it 
must  have  stood  in  two  or  three  feet  of  water, 
reminding  one  of  the  prehistoric  lake  -  dwellings. 
These  piles,  however,  were  its  only  point  of  resem¬ 
blance  to  its  neighbour,  for  it  was  as  dirty,  untidy, 
and  miserable-looking  as  the  other  was  clean  and 
prosperous.  It  was  curious  to  find  three  distinct 
communities,  whose  habits  and  modes  of  life  were 
so  wholly  different,  planted  within  a  stone  s-throw 
of  each  other  on  this  little  island. 

Near  us  was  a  children’s  school  where  they  were 
hard  at  work,  as  one  could  tell  from  the  hum— a 
familiar  sound  that  is  ever  the  same,  no  matter  in 
what  country  you  hear  it.  Some  of  these  copper- 
coloured  little  brats  came  and  had  a  peep  at  us ; 
but  otherwise  the  natives  were  so  accustomed  to 
seeing  white  people  that  they  did  not  follow  us 
about  as  in  most  other  places. 

AVe  then  sauntered  quietly  towards  the  pier  by 
narrow  paths  cut  through  a  thick  growth  of  many 
kinds  of  ferns,  by  which  time  the  heat  had  become 
so  intense  that  it  was  a  relief  to  get  back  to  the 
ship  and  rest.  ' 

AVe  steamed  out  of  the  harbour  at  5  p.m.,  through 
a  narrow  passage  between  two  islands,  one  of  them 


CAPE  AMBER. 


91 


a  higli  cone  covered  with  a  magnificent  virgin  forest. 
Never  before  had  I  seen  such  a  densely  packed  mass 
of  different  varieties  of  trees ;  and  as  we  passed,  I 
got  peeps  through  the  foliage  of  soft  green  mossy 
banks,  and  of  little  streams  trickling  down  towards 
the  sea.  They  told  me  that  this  forest  is  a  boon  to 
Nosy-Be,  as  it  attracts  so  many  clouds,  and  more  or 
less  regulates  the  rainfall. 

On  November  the  5th,  at  6.30  A.M.,  we  passed 
Cape  Amber :  nothing  very  striking  about  it,  for 
a  line  of  low  hills  is  all  that  seems  to  mark  the 
northernmost  point  of  Madagascar.  We  then  steered 
to  the  south-east,  losing  sight  of  land  until  9  A.M., 
wdien  we  changed  our  course,  and  seemed  to  be 
making  straight  for  the  coast  lying  due  vrest  of 
us.  The  captain  pointed  out  to  us  a  hill  called 
“  Windsor  Castle,”  from  its  resemblance  to  a  distant 
view  of  that  edifice.  This  hill  is  used  as  a  landmark 
for  entering  the  Diego  Suarez  harbour  by  getting  it 
in  line  with  some  point  on  the  eastern  shore.  As  it 
happened,  our  Captain,  who  had  never  been  there 
before,  missed  his  mark,  and  before  there  was  time 
to  realise  what  was  happening,  a  great  bump  was 
felt,  women  shrieked,  and  every  one  rushed  about 
to  try  and  find  out  what  had  caused  the  crash. 
Looking  overboard,  we  soon  saw  there  was  no  dan¬ 
ger  of  our  sinking  altogether,  for  we  could  clearly 
see  the  bottom,  the  sea  being;  so  shallow.  It  was 
soon  found  that  the  vessel  had  struck  a  rock  right 


92 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


amidship,  leaving  her  bow  and  stern  free,  and  that 
there  was  no  possibility  of  her  getting  off  until  the 
tide  rose.  The  Captain,  however,  made  the  second 
and  third  class  passengers  crowd  to  the  stern  to  see 
if  that  would  help  to  float  her ;  but  nothing  came 
of  it,  and  anchors  had  to  be  thrown  out  on  all  sides 
so  as  to  keep  her  from  drifting  ashore  when  the 
tide  rose.  The  Captain  knew  it  was  a  very  windy 
corner,  and  that  the  tide  runs  with  force  through 
the  narrow  entrance  into  the  harbour ;  so  that  even 
with  the  help  of  the  anchors,  we  risked  being  dashed 
against  the  sharp  bank  of  rocks  on  Point  Orange  to 
our  left. 

Soon  after  we  had  struck,  a  small  native  canoe 
put  off  to  us  from  the  island  which  blocks  the 
centre  of  the  entrance  to  the  harbour.  In  it  were  five 
Frenchmen,  so  sunburnt  that  they  might  easily  have 
been  taken  for  natives.  One  of  them  climbed  up  the 
side  of  the  vessel,  and  said  that,  seeing  we  were  in 
trouble,  he  had  come  to  know  if  he  should  com¬ 
municate  with  Diego  Suarez  by  means  of  his  helio¬ 
graph,  so  that  they  might  send  their  steam-launches 
to  our  assistance.  He  explained  that  he  was  Lieu¬ 
tenant  Sauvage,  and  that  he  was  encamped  on  Point 
Orange  with  forty  disciplinaires,  four  of  whom  he 
had  in  the  canoe — strong,  healthy -looking  men, 
although  they  had  been  in  that  climate  four  years. 
Some  of  them  had  very  forbidding  expressions,  and 
the  Lieutenant  said  it  was  often  very  difficult  to 


DIEGO  SUAREZ  BAY. 


93 


manage  them,  for  they  were  always  ready  to  rebel 
at  the  hard  work  they  were  made  to  do.  Our  Cap¬ 
tain  having  accepted  his  offer,  he  scrambled  down 
into  his  canoe,  hoisted  his  sail,  made  of  an  old  sack 
attached  to  two  rough  poles,  and  soon  reached  the 
Point.  All  had  been  done  so  smartly  that  one  could 
not  help  admiring  his  energy  in  such  a  relaxing- 
climate. 

While  we  were  waiting  for  the  launches,  we  had 
plenty  of  time  to  take  in  a  view  of  our  surround¬ 
ings.  We  had  struck  at  the  mouth  of  a  narrow 

o 

channel,  barely  two  hundred  yards  wide,  which 
forms  the  entrance  to  Diego  Suarez  Bay.  On  our 
right  was  the  barren  rocky  “  Isle  de  la  Lune,”  against 
which  the  surf  was  breaking  in  a  continuous  line  of 
foam.  On  our  left  were  the  almost  precipitous  cliffs 
of  “  Point  Orange,”  surmounted  by  a  heavy  crown  of 
tropical  bush.  In  front  was  the  broad  expanse  of 
Diego  Suarez  Bay,  with  “  Windsor  Castle,”  and  the 
lower  peaks  of  the  range  on  which  it  stands,  break¬ 
ing  the  sky-line  in  the  western  distance ;  while  be¬ 
hind  us  was  the  surf -marked  circle  of  coral-reefs 
surrounding  a  network  of  shallow  lakes,  which 
sparkled  in  the  sun  in  every  shade  of  blue  and 
green,  from  the  milky  hues  of  the  turquoise,  and  the 
cool  bright  green  of  the  spring  grass,  to  the  more 
brilliant  sheen  of  the  emerald. 

As  there  was  nothing  else  to  be  done,  Harry  and 
I  went  down  to  lunch  :  everybody  else,  except 


94 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


Monsieur  cle  Vilers,  seemed  too  anxious  about  what 
might  happen  to  feel  any  hunger.  The  bumping 
got  more  frequent  and  more  violent,  and  as  the 
tide  began  to  rise,  there  was  a  greater  strain  on 
the  anchor-cables.  At  one  time  it  was  thought 
advisable  to  send  the  women  on  shore ;  but  by 
the  time  the  steam-launches  were  sent  out,  the 
sea  had  got  so  rough  that  they  could  not  safely 
approach  us.  One  of  them  got  such  a  bump  against 
our  ship  that  she  was  disabled,  and  had  to  take 
shelter  within  the  harbour.  Suddenly  there  was 
a  terrific  crash  :  a  cable  had  snapped  against  the 
strength  of  the  rushing  tide  dashing  on  the  rocks 
not  many  yards  from  us.  The  engines  worked  to 
their  full  power  trying  to  keep  the  ship  off  the 
shore.  It  certainly  was  a  very  critical  moment, 
but  luckily  the  wind  was  not  so  strong  as  is  usually 
the  case  at  this  point ;  if  it  had  been,  she  would  cer¬ 
tainly  have  been  knocked  to  pieces  against  the  rocks, 
for  her  engines  could  never  have  withstood  the  force 
of  both  wind  and  tide  combined.  Terror  was  im¬ 
printed  on  many  faces,  mothers  clasping  their  chil¬ 
dren,  but  the  nuns  were  calm  and  composed,  de¬ 
voutly  telling  their  beads.  Monsieur  de  Yilers  was 
getting  decidedly  anxious  about  the  women — having 
been  in  several  shipwrecks,  he  knew  how  fatal  a  panic 
was — when,  after  a  tremendous  thump  and  rise,  which 
nearly  threw  us  off  our  feet,  the  “  Amazone”  seemed  to 
shake  herself  together,  and  was  afloat  again.  It  was 


DIEGO  SUAREZ. 


“BAIE  DES  CAILLOUX  BLANCS.”  95 

a  oreat  relief  not  to  hear  that  continual  crash  at  short 

O 

intervals,  which  ended  by  getting  on  one’s  nerves. 

We  struck  the  rock  at  9.55  a.m.,  and  it  was  2.30 
p.m.  before  we  steamed  to  our  anchorage  at  the 
mouth  of  the  “  Baie  des  Cailloux  Blancs,”  narrowed 
at  its  entrance  by  the  promontory  of  Diego  on  our 
right,  and  the  slightly  projecting  coast-line  on  which 
the  settlement  of  Antiserane  is  built.  On  the  former 
— a  high  table-topped  mass  of  rock  indented  at  its 
foot  by  little  sandy  bays — stands  the  hospital,  for 
which  its  breezy  heights  and  the  good  water-supply 
to  be  found  there  make  it  very  suitable.  The 
latter — at  a  much  lower  level — presents  a  flat  and 
uninteresting  sky-line,  broken  here  and  there  by 
the  red-tiled-roofed  barracks  and  other  Government 
buildings :  these  are  continued  down  the  steep  slope, 
in  which  the  plateau  ends,  to  the  sea-sliore,  which  is 
connected  with  the  table-land  by  good  zigzag  roads. 
Opposite  us  on  the  shore  were  wharfs,  coal-sheds, 
workshops,  and  piles  of  stores ;  while  farther  down, 
built  on  either  side  of  a  narrow  ravine,  was  the 
civil  town,  inhabited  by  a  mixed  population  of 
Malagasies,  Indians,  and  Mauritius  creoles.  Like 
the  military  settlement,  it  was  almost  entirety 
built  below  the  crest  of  the  plateau. 

Though  man  had  given  a  certain  air  of  life  to 
the  place,  the  whole  scene  was  singularly  dreary 
and  monotonous.  Not  a  tree  was  visible  to  break 
the  straight  horizon,  and  almost  the  only  bit  of 


96 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


colour  was  that  given  by  the  red  tiles  imported 
from  France. 

Soon  after  we  had  anchored,  Monsieur  d’Anthouard 
took  us  ashore  to  see  the  Colonel  of  artillery 
commanding  the  station ;  but  as  we  landed,  we  met 
that  officer  just  stepping  into  his  boat  to  call  on 
Monsieur  Le  Myre  cle  Vilers.  He,  however,  kindly 
wrote  a  note  to  one  of  his  subordinates  directing 
him  to  show  us  round.  So,  trudging  up  the  face 
of  the  bank  by  one  of  the  zigzag  paths,  we  arrived 
— with  the  help  of  a  private  we  met  on  the  road — 
at  the  officer’s  hut,  and  sent  in  the  note.-  The 
occupant  of  the  hut  presently  appeared,  evidently 
just  awakened  from  his  siesta,  and  not  too  pleased 
at  having  to  act  as  cicerone  to  two  strangers  in 
a  blazing  afternoon  sun.  He,  however,  did  his 
duty  manfully,  and  showed  us  all  the  lions  of  the 
place,  which  consisted  of  the  barracks,  mule-sheds, 
and  terminus  of  the  Decauville  railway.  The 
barracks,  which  had  been  built  entirely  by  military 
labour,  are  constructed  of  perforated  bricks,  and 
stand  on  brick  piers,  raising  the  ground-floor  some 
six  feet  above  the  soil.  The  mule-sheds  contained 
a  good  many  animals,  employed  for  all  transport 
purposes,  and  for  working  the  Decauville  railway, 
which,  as  we  had  some  experience  of  it  on  the  fol¬ 
lowing  morning,  I  shall  describe  in  its  proper  place. 

We  had  just  completed  our  round  of  these  sights 
when  we  were  overtaken  by  the  Colonel,  accom- 


THE  FILANZANA. 


97 


panied  by  four  men  bearing  a  kind  of  chair  made 
of  an  iron  frame,  covered  with  canvas,  attached 
to  two  poles.  This  was  my  first  acquaintance  with 
the  filanzana,  in  which  I  was  afterwards  to  travel 
many  miles  before  I  left  Madagascar.  The  front 
ends  of  the  poles  were  lowered  to  the  ground,  the 
other  ends  being  held  up  by  two  of  the  men  at 
a  convenient  height  for  me  to  sit  down.  On  doing 
so,  I  found  myself  hurled  up  into  the  air  on  the 
shoulders  of  the  men,  who  went  off  at  a  gallop, 
making  me  feel  at  every  moment  that  I  must  be 
pitched  out,  the  only  support  for  my  feet  being  a 
piece  of  board  swinging  on  two  ropes.  Having 
no  shelter  over  my  head,  I  was  obliged  to  hold 
up  a  parasol,  clutching  on  to  the  chair  with  my 
other  hand.  I  thought  to  myself,  never  shall  I 
be  able  to  go  a  long  journey  in  this  uncomfort¬ 
able  vehicle ;  for  I  had  not  been  in  it  ten  minutes 
before  I  had  such  a  stitch  in  my  side  that  I  should 
have  preferred  walking  miles  in  the  blazing  sun. 
I,  however,  managed  to  make  the  round  of  the 
town  in  it,  and  then  proceeded  to  the  Colonel’s 
quarters,  a  pretty  little  house  in  a  shady  garden 
on  the  edge  of  the  steep  bank  facing  Diego  Point. 
His  cool  little  sitting-room  was  prettily  hung  with 
native  mats,  and  just  outside  the  window  was  a 
big  tree  covered  with  bottle-shaped  nests  made  by 
the  weaver  -  birds,  which  much  resemble  yellow 
sparrows.  To  protect  their  eggs  from  bigger  birds 

G 


98 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


they  interlace  green  branches  over  the  entrances 
to  their  little  homes. 

After  a  short  visit  we  returned  on  board,  accom¬ 
panied  by  our  host,  who  had  been  invited  to  dinner 
by  the  Captain  of  the  “Amazone.”  Commandant 
Moussu,  whose  gunboat  was  then  anchored  near 
us,  was  also  of  the  party. 

Monsieur  de  Vilers  had  set  his  heart  on  our 
taking  a  ride  on  the  “  Montagne  Russe,”  as  he  called 
the  Decauville  line  we  had  seen.  He  declared  it 
was  the  very  thing  we  should  enjoy ;  but  the 
Colonel  did  not  seem  ecpially  keen.  However,  we 
nil  begged  so  hard  that  he  promised  to  send  us 
word  if  he  could  manage  it.  As  there  was  only 
one  train  a-day,  starting  at  5.30  A.M.,  to  take  pro¬ 
visions  to  Maattinsinzoarivo  fort,  we  retired  to  rest 
earty  in  hopes  of  having  to  be  called  before  sunrise 
for  our  trip.  After  we  had  gone  below,  Monsieur 
de  Vilers  heard  from  the  Colonel  that  our  expedition 
could  be  arranged ;  so  he  sent  us  a  message,  which, 
however,  never  reached  us.  Had  it  not  been  for 
his  kindness  in  getting  up  to  call  us  at  five 
the  following  morning,  we  certainly  should  not 
have  awakened  in  time  to  catch  the  train.  As  it 
was,  we  had  only  ten  minutes  to  tumble  out  of 
bed  and  into  our  clothes,  eat  a  crust,  and  jump 
into  the  boat,  which  he  had  had  manned  while 
we  were  dressing.  In  less  than  twenty  minutes 
from  the  time  we  were  called,  we  were  walking 


THE  DECAUVILLE  RAILWAY. 


99 


up  the  pier  steps,  where  the  Colonel  received  ns. 
The  little  train  had  already  started  up  the  hill,  so 
we  had  to  take  a  short  cut  and  meet  it  at  the 
barracks.  There  were  three  trucks,  two  laden  with 
provisions,  the  third  for  passengers  with  two  seats 
placed — outside  car -fashion — back  to  back.  On 
this  Harry  and  the  Colonel  took  their  seats ;  but 
I  preferred  sitting  on  a  provision-box  in  the  fore¬ 
most  truck,  between  the  driver  and  a  private,  who 
were  most  entertaining,  and  told  me  about  their 
everyday  life. 

Two  mules,  each  led  by  a  native,  were  hooked 
tandem-fashion  to  the  side  of  the  leading  truck  ;  the 
leader  being  ridden  postilion,  while  the  other  native 
scrambled  on  to  the  train  behind.  We  started  at 
full  gallop,  holding  on  like  grim  death  to  avoid 
being  jerked  out  by  the  jump  which  the  cars  gave 
as  they  passed,  in  rapid  succession,  over  each  joint 
of  the  roughly  laid  rails.  The  line  runs  through 
low  prickly  shrub  over  an  undulating  plain,  the 
steeper  slopes  of  which  are  avoided  by  curving 
round  the  spurs  and  valleys ;  but  no  levelling  has 
been  attempted,  and  the  track  consequently  passes 
over  a  succession  of  ups  and  downs.  On  arriving 
at  the  beginning  of  one  of  the  latter  the  mules 
are  cleverly  unhooked  without  stopping  the  cars, 
which  speed  down  the  incline,  while  the  animals 
are  galloped  at  full  speed  by  a  short  cut,  to  rejoin 
them  ere  they  lose  their  impetus  on  the  next  ascent, 


100 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


when,  without  slackening  their  pace,  the)7  are  hooked 
on  again  until  the  next  descent  is  reached.  At  one 
point  where  the  line  crosses  a  ravine  by  a  causeway 
too  narrow  to  allow  of  trucks  and  mules  passing 
together,  the  engineer  has  taken  a  hint  from  the 
character  of  the  ground,  and  built  the  embankment 
with  a  dip  in  the  middle ;  so  that,  when  the  mules 
are  detached,  the  impetus  given  by  the  descent 
takes  the  train  up  the  opposite  bank,  where  they 
can  again  be  hooked  on.  In  spite  of  the  jerks,  aud 
the  fact  that  the  dust  and  wind  almost  prevented 
me  from  seeing,  the  sensation  of  rushing  through 
the  air  at  such  a  pace  was  a  most  delicious  one ; 
and  I  was  quite  sorry  when,  after  a  journey  of 
twelve  kilometres,  the  line  ended  abruptly  at  the 
foot  of  a  steep  hill,  whence  we  were  told  we  had 
three  kilometres  to  walk.  Just  before  we  began 
climbing  this  hill,  we  crossed  by  a  good  stone  bridge 
“  La  Kiviere  des  Caimans  ” — here  a  clear  boulder- 
strewn  stream,  looking  far  more  like  the  home  of 
trout  than  of  crocodiles,  though  I  am  told  that  a 
little  lower  down,  where  the  stream  becomes  broader 
and  more  sluggish,  the  latter  are  plentiful  enough 
to  justify  its  name. 

I  was  thankful  it  was  so  early  in  the  morning,  for 
at  that  hour  there  was  a  deliciously  cool  breeze, 
which  gave  us  strength  for  our  tedious  walk.  After 
an  hours  toil  up  the  newly  made  military  road, 
zigzagging  up  a  steep  bank  covered  with  sparse  low 


A  CHARMING  VIEW. 


101 


shrub,  we  reached  the  fort,  a  stockaded  enclosure 
in  which  were  a  two  -  storeyed  stone  building,  a 
number  of  detached  huts,  and  a  kitchen -garden, 
in  which  a  good  many  men  were  at  work,  and  which 
seemed  to  provide  an  ample  supply  of  vegetables. 
My  ideas  of  a  fort  being  based  on  what  I  had  seen 
in  Europe,  and  the  very  pretentious  works  at  Mas- 
sowah,  I  confess  I  was  rather  disappointed  at  this 
very  unpretending  little  stronghold ;  but  I  was  told 
it  was  quite  strong  enough  for  the  purpose  for  which 
it  was  intended — to  ward  off  the  attacks  of  evil- 
disposed  Sakalavas ;  though  even  they,  so  far,  had 
never  tested  its  powers  of  resistance.  Whatever 
its  qualifications  may  have  been  from  a  military 
point  of  view,  it  certainly  afforded  a  charming  view 
of  the  surrounding  country.  To  the  north,  the  broad 
plain  over  which  we  had  just  passed,  with  the 
gradually  widening  “  Riviere  des  Caimans  ”  winding 
through  it,  till  it  lost  itself  in  La  Baie  de  Diego 
Suarez ;  beyond  it  the  red  roofs  of  the  Antiserane 
barracks,  from  which  the  heliograph  flashed  us  an 
occasional  message,  and  in  the  distance  the  high 
summit  of  Diego  Point.  To  the  east,  at  our  feet, 
lay  a  green  valley,  through  which  wound  the  upper 
waters  of  “  La  Riviere  des  Caimans,”  bounded  on  its 
farther  side  by  a  steep  wooded  bank,  between  the 
top  of  wdiich  and  the  sky-line  was  visible  a  narrow 
strip  of  the  Indian  Ocean.  To  the  south,  the  view 
was  bounded  at  a  short  distance  by  a  bush-covered 


102 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


range  of  hills ;  while  to  the  west  spread  a  succession 
of  barren  hills  and  valleys,  terminating  in  the 
rugged  range  of  which  “  Windsor  Castle  ”  is  the 
highest  point. 

The  Captain  in  command  having  been  informed 
by  heliograph  of  our  intended  visit,  came  to  meet 
us.  The  poor  man  looked  very  ill,  having  just  got 
over  a  bad  attack  of  fever.  The  Lieutenant,  on  the 
contrary,  although  he  had  been  there  eighteen 
months,  was  perfectly  well,  and  told  us  he  had 
never  once  had  an  attack.  This  elevated  spot, 
swept  by  sea  -  breezes,  certainly  seemed  as  if  it 
ought  to  be  more  healthy  than  the  low-lying  town 
of  Antiserane ;  but  I  was  told  it  was  these  very 
breezes  which,  fever  -  laden  from  the  mangrove  - 
swamps  in  the  plains,  caused  it  to  be  unhealthy. 
The  men,  a  hundred  and  forty  in  number,  were 
disciplinaires,  and  I  should  think  rather  a  handful, 
as  a  big  dark  room  used  as  a  prison,  which  was 
shown  us  when  we  went  round  the  huts,  was  said 
to  be  often  quite  full  with  men  who  had  to  be  con¬ 
fined  for  insubordination. 

After  resting  a  short  time  in  the  officers’  mess, 
we  had  to  hurry  back,  as  our  ship  was  to  start  early. 
I  think  the  poor  Colonel  did  not  at  all  appreciate 
our  expedition,  for  it  became  intolerably  hot  before 
we  got  back,  and,  like  us,  he  had  probably  started 
without  his  breakfast. 

At  eleven  we  steamed  out  of  harbour  with  a 


103 


“  iLE  MADAME.” 

pleasant  cool  wind  ahead,  which,  however,  became 
unpleasantly  strong  when  we  got  outside,  and  I 
soon  had  to  disappear,  and  spent  a  wretched  night, 
as  the  vessel  pitched  terribly.  At  one  o’clock  next 
day  we  got  into  calm  water,  as  we  entered  the 
channel,  about  ten  miles  wide,  which  separates  the 
island  of  Sainte  Marie  from  Madagascar.  The 
former  island  consists  of  a  high  ridge  running 
north  and  south,  some  thirty  miles  in  length  and 
two  in  breadth,  on  the  western  coast  of  which  the 
harbour  is  situated. 

We  cast  anchor  at  2  p.m.  off  “  lie  Madame,”  the 
inner  of  two  islets  in  the  harbour,  which  contains 
the  Government  House,  hospital,  and  workshops,  and 
is  connected  with  the  main  island  by  a  ferry-boat 
running  on  a  wire  cable.  lie  Fourban,  the  outer 
island,  is  uninhabited,  and  is  only  used  as  a  coal- 
depot.  Owing  to  the  unhealthiness  and  excessive 
mortality  in  this  station,  the  European  garrison  and 
civil  employes  have  been  reduced  to  a  minimum  ;  the 
only  representative  of  the  former  being,  I  believe, 
an  artillery  sergeant,  who  acts  as  caretaker  to  the 
fort  on  Sainte  Marie ;  while  the  latter  do  not,  I 
think,  number  more  than  half-a-dozen. 

We  went  on  shore  with  the  post-bags,  and  after 
landing  them  on  “lie  Madame,”  were  rowed  to  Sainte 
Marie  pier ;  then  walking  along  a  beautiful  shady 
road  with  glorious  vegetation  on  all  sides,  we 
reached  the  Boman  Catholic  mission  station,  easily 


104 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


recognisable  by  the  hymns  which  we  heard  the 
little  native  children  singing  inside.  Then  after 
looking  at  the  church,  which  stands  in  a  pretty 
garden,  we  climbed  up  a  steep  slope  to  the  fort, 
perched  on  the  ridge  of  the  island  at  its  narrowest, 
and  overlooking  the  harbour  to  the  west,  and  a 
broad  stretch  of  swamp  to  the  east.  We  knocked 
at  an  open  door,  and  getting  no  answer,  walked  in 
and  found  the  whole  place  deserted ;  there  had 
evidently  been  no  troops  there  for  some  time.  We 
were  afterwards  told  that  this  elevated  spot  was  the 
most  unhealthy  part  of  the  whole  island,  owing  to 
its  being  exposed  to  the  winds  that  sweep  across 
the  marshes.  Continuing  our  walk  some  distance 
along  a  good  road  shaded  by  large  overhanging 
trees,  we  arrived  at  a  collection  of  native  huts,  near 
which  was  a  little  cafe  kept  by  a  Frenchman  who 
looked  wretchedly  ill.  He  sold  us  some  cocoa-nut 
milk,  and  talked  to  us  in  a  desponding  manner  of 
the  vanished  prosperity  of  Sainte  Marie.  Between 
the  huts  and  the  sea  fringing  the  shore  is  a  lovely 
avenue  of  cocoa-palms,  under  which  sat  a  group  of 
natives,  from  whom  we  bought  some  leechees,  a 
delicious  slightly  acid  fruit  contained  in  a  hard 
shell,  which  on  being  removed  reveals  a  substance 
that  from  its  translucent  appearance  might  be  taken 
for  a  hard-boiled  plover’s  egg.  In  a  little  garden 
close  by  I  noticed  a  splendid  cacao-shrub,  its  reddish 
pointed  pods  full  of  my  favourite  nibs. 


TAMATAVE. 


105 


£:  l’ile  des  peunes.” 

As  there  did  not  seem  much  to  make  it  worth 
while  walking  any  longer  in  the  hot  sun,  we  retraced 
our  steps  and  returned  on  board.  This  island  is 
pretty,  but  without  any  particular  interest,  and  is 
said  to  be  a  hotbed  of  fever ;  even  at  the  time  of 
our  visit — the  end  of  the  dry  season — it  was  extra¬ 
ordinarily  green,  and  one  could  hardly  imagine  to 
what  further  degree  of  rankness  the  vegetation 
would  reach  by  the  end  of  the  rains. 

The  next  night  was  spent  at  anchor,  a  great  relief 
after  the  last  restless  one  at  sea !  Early  on  the 
following  morning,  however,  we  started  again,  and 
twenty-four  hours’  steaming  brought  us  to  Tama- 
tave,  November  the  8th,  6.30  a.m.  Just  before 
entering  the  harbour  we  passed  “  L’lle  des  Prunes,” 
whose  green  foliage  offered  a  striking  contrast  to 
the  withered  tree-trunks,  evidences  of  the  force  of 
the  hurricane  which  had  swept  over  it  in  1885, 
blowing  off  the  roofs  of  houses,  i^rooting  and 
killing  the  trees,  and  driving  on  shore  the  ships  at 
anchor  in  the  harbour.  I  was  told  that  the  British 
consul,  Captain  Haggard,  wTas  at  the  Mauritius 
during  this  storm,  and  on  his  return  found  that 
the  roof  of  his  house  had  been  lifted  off  like  the  lid 
of  a  box  and  deposited  half  a  mile  away. 

The  ships  have  to  anchor  a  longish  way  from  the 
shore,  making  it  very  inconvenient  for  loading  and 
unloading  cargo.  The  poor  bullocks,  of  which  a 
considerable  number  are  continually  exported  to  the 


106 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


Mauritius  ancl  other  islands,  go  through  a  terrible 
ordeal.  Several  of  them  are  tied  by  the  horns  to  a 
rope,  which  is  fastened  to  spars  placed  athwart  the 
canoes ;  they  are  then  driven  into  the  sea  with 
many  shrieks  and  blows  from  the  natives,  and  have 
to  swim  for  dear  life,  towed  by  the  canoes,  to  the 
ship  which  is  to  convey  them.  When  they  arrive  at 
the  ship’s  side,  a  rope  is  passed  under  them,  and 
they  are  hoisted  on  deck.  It  seemed  terribly  cruel, 
for  I  am  told  they  do  not  even  use  a  rope  thick 
enough  to  prevent  its  cutting  into  them.  I  saw 
one  clever  animal  get  himself  free  of  the  ropes  and 
swim  to  the  reefs,  where  he  seemed  perfectly  happy, 
stumbling  about  out  of  reach  of  his  persecutors. 

A  great  many  people  came  on  board  from  the 
town ;  among  them  was  Monsieur  Baissade,  the 
doctor  belonging  to  the  French  Residency,  to  whom 
we  were  introduced,  and  under  whose  care  we  were 
placed  for  the  journey  up  country.  Soon  after 
anchoring,  our  Captain  came  up  to  us  accompanied 
by  an  English  officer,  who  had  come  from  H.M.S. 
“Penguin”  for  their  mails,  and  who  kindly  invited  us 
to  lunch  on  board.  On  arriving  there,  however,  we 
were  introduced  to  the  Captain — King  Hall — who 
asked  us  to  lunch  with  him.  On  sitting  down  I 
was  surprised  to  find  that  my  neighbour,  the  first 
Lieutenant,  was  Mr  Stanhope,  whom  I  had  not  seen 
since  we  were  both  little  children  at  Pau ;  while 
Harry’s  last  meeting  with  him  was  at  Dongola. 


TAMATAVE. 


107 


The  “Penguin”  is  a  smart  little  gunboat;  but  I 
honestly  confess  I  was  not  happy  while  on  her,  as 
she  was  continually  rolling. 

After  lunch  we  went  ashore  with  Captain  King 
Hall,  taking  the  “  Amazone”  on  our  way  to  say  good¬ 
bye  to  Commandant  Masset.  From  the  beach,  on 
to  which  I  was  carried  by  a  couple  of  blue-jackets, 


Doctor  Baissade  in  his  Jilanzana. 

we  walked  to  the  hotel  by  the  long,  straight,  sandy 
street,  which  is  practically  the  whole  town.  In 
spite  of  its  length  and  straightness,  and  that  most 
unsesthetic  of  objects,  a  tram  line  —  which  runs 
down  its  centre  —  it  was  not  without  a  certain 
picturesqueness.  The  houses,  in  all  varieties  of 


108 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


shapes  and  sizes,  were  mostly  built  of  wood,  while 
their  projecting  eaves,  supported  on  tall  wooden 
uprights,  gave  a  plentiful  variety  of  light  and  shade, 
but,  unlike  those  of  Arab  towns,  afforded  none  of  the 
latter  to  the  street  itself.  In  spite  of  the  dust,  and 
the  glare  of  the  mid-day  sun,  there  was  a  fair 
amount  of  life  in  the  street,  both  native  and  Euro¬ 
pean  :  wliite-robed,  straw-hatted  Hovas  of  the  mid¬ 
dle  class  sitting  near  their  verandahs,  or  sauntering 
barefooted  through  the  dust ;  the  coast  negroes, 
bareheaded,  in  loose  sacks  of  coloured  home-spun, 
also  on  foot ;  Hova  officers  and  Europeans  perched 
high  on  men’s  shoulders  in  their  Jilanzanas — the 
former  in  the  most  correct  and  uncomfortable-look¬ 
ing  black  frock-coats  and  tall  black  hats,  and  the 
latter  for  the  most  part  with  the  loosest  of  white 
cotton  suits.  We,  imitating  the  humbler  of  the 
natives,  proceeded  on  foot ;  and  although  the  walk 
was  not  very  long,  we  were  glad  to  escape  the  ver¬ 
tical  rays  of  the  sun,  and  to  take  shelter  in  our 
inn,  grandly  called  “Hotel  de  France,”  where  our 
travelling  companions  had  already  settled  down.  It 
was  a  small  single-storeyed  house  surrounded  by  a 
verandah,  and  separated  from  the  sea  on  one  side 
and  the  street  on  the  other,  by  two  strips  of  untidy 
garden. 

We  found  Monsieur  de  Adlers  holding  a  levee — all 
the  Europeans  in  the  place,  and  the  heads  of  the 
native  population,  having  come  to  pay  their  respects 


PREPARING  FOR  THE  JOURNEY. 


109 


to  the  Resident-General,  dressed  in  their  best  Euro¬ 
pean  clothes,  top-hats,  and  gloves.  His  rooms  were 
on  the  right  of  the  verandah,  and  ours  on  the  left  ; 
so  I  amused  myself  by  watching  the  mixed  proces¬ 
sion  going  in  and  out. 

As  it  was  hoped  that  the  porters  for  our  journey 
would  be  procured  by  the  following  morning,  Doc¬ 
tor  Baissade  proposed  that  we  should  go  with  him 
and  buy  camp-beds,  stools,  &c.,  which  we  should 
want  on  the  journey,  having  come  without  any  of 
these  necessaries.  I  was  offered  a  filanzana ,  but  re¬ 
membering  my  previous  experience  of  that  convey¬ 
ance,  preferred  to  walk  ankle-cleep  in  the  sand.  How¬ 
ever,  I  soon  got  tired  of  this,  and  began  to  regret 
I  had  refused  the  offer  of  a  lift ;  for  in  spite  of  there 
being  several  very  good  shops  kept  by  Europeans, 
it  took  us  some  time  to  find  what  we  wanted — two 
folding  camp-beds,  two  iron  folding-chairs,  a  very 
large  basin  with  canvas  cover,  which  wre  filled  with 
all  tubbing  necessaries,  and  two  poncho  waterproofs, 
— i.e. ,  square  sheets  of  waterproof  cloth  with  holes 
cut  in  the  centre  for  one’s  head  to  pass  through.  I 
was  also  persuaded  to  buy  a  helmet,  a  head-gear  I 
detest.  So  far  I  had  managed  with  one  of  Heath’s 
small  sailor-hats.  But  later  on  the  helmet  turned 
out  most  useful  in  the  almost  perpetual  rain  we  had 
going  up  country,  as  it  acted  as  a  “  sou’-wester,”  and 
shot  the  water  well  off  the  back  of  my  neck. 

Our  shopping  finished,  we  went  to  the  bank  to 


110 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


exchange  our  gold  into  dollars  (called  ariary) ,  the 
coin  most  generally  used  by  the  natives,  the  Mala¬ 
gasy  having  no  coinage  of  their  own.  We  after¬ 
wards  had  to  send  some  of  these  dollars  to  a  man 
who  cut  each  coin  into  seven  pieces  of  different 
sizes.  It  is  a  most  inconvenient  way  of  buying 
anything,  for  one  is  obliged  to  carry  a  set  of  scales 
and  weights  with  which  to  weigh  out  the  value  of 
the  purchase. 

We  returned  in  time  for  dinner,  and  retired  early, 
thinking  we  might  have  to  start  in  good  time  the 
next  morning.  Our  departure  depended  entirely  on 
the  porters,  who  are  all  natives  of  the  interior,  and 
who  come  down  to  the  coast  when  they  hear  of  a 
job.  Although  they  had  several  times  before  taken 
up  the  Resident,  his  party  and  goods,  and  knew  per¬ 
fectly  well  that  he  never  gave  more  than  a  certain 
fixed  sum,  still  each  time  they  think  it  necessary 
to  bargain  for  more  pay,  and  to  waste  several  days 
before  they  give  in. 

Next  morning  we  got  up  early  and  packed.  Out¬ 
side  I  heard  a  hum  of  voices,  and  going  out  on  to  the 
verandah,  I  saw  a  great  crowd  of  natives  all  talking 
and  shouting  at  once,  while  Monsieur  d’Anthouard 
answered  them  with  great  calmness  in  their  own 
language,  looking  as  if  he  had  years  before  him  to 
settle  about  the  trip  to  the  capital ;  for  if  he  had  let 
them  think  for  a  moment  that  he  was  in  a  hurry, 
they  would  have  held  on  to  their  high  prices. 


N 


Silver  Charms ,  &c. 


Silver  charms,  Jeddah.  2.  Sandals,  Lamu.  3.  Silver  anklets,  Zanzibar.  4.  Cut  silver  money,  scales,  and  weights,  Madagascar. 


112 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


In  spite  of  their  obstinacy,  they  were  rather  a 
pleasant  -  looking  set  of  men,  with  dark-skinned 
faces,  and  lithe  gracefully-made  bodies  covered  by  a 
blouse-like  garment  reaching  to  the  knees,  which  in 
most  cases  was  made  out  of  coarse  palm-fibre  sack¬ 
ing,  with  holes  cut  for  the  neck  and  arms,  and  tied 
round  the  waist  with  a  string.  After  a  long  dis¬ 
cussion  they  departed,  having  temporarily  got  their 
own  way,  and  condemned  us  to  another  day’s  delay. 

While  we  were  sitting  under  the  verandah  waiting 
to  know  our  fate,  two  filanzanas  arrived,  and  de¬ 
posited  their  passengers  near  us.  They  turned  out 
to  be  a  certain  Princess  Juliette  and  her  sister,  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  former  reigning  family,  but  by  a  Mau¬ 
ritius  mother.  In  dress  they  were  somewhat  similar 
— wearing;  loose  camisoles  and  cotton  skirts  which 
had  not  seen  the  wash-tub  for  some  time,  low  shoes 
with  buckles,  and  white  cotton  stockings  very  loose 
about  the  ankles — but  otherwise  I  never  saw  two 
sisters  more  unlike.  Juliette,  the  elder,  was  an 
enormously  fat  old  woman,  with  short  grey  wool  all 
over  her  head,  thick  lips,  a  loud  laugh,  and  great 
flabby  hands.  Her  sister,  on  the  contrary,  was 
almost  a  living  skeleton,  with  a  prim,  rather  serious 
manner,  black  wavy  hair,  and  the  complexion  of  a 
dried-up  apple.  She  appeared  to  act  as  a  sort  of 
servant  to  her  sister,  sitting  behind  her  chair  saying 
nothing,  and  now  and  then  getting  up  to  attend  to 
“  Fatty’s  ”  wants. 


A  PERFECT  DELUGE. 


113 


As  it  turned  out,  it  was  fortunate  that  we  had 
not  started  that  day,  for  a  frightful  storm  came  on 
while  we  were  at  dinner — a  perfect  deluge — in  the 
middle  of  which  arrived  the  American  consul,  who 
had  come  to  consult  the  doctor  ;  so  we  left  them 
together,  and  adjourned  to  Monsieur  de  Yilers’s 
sitting-room.  As  it  was  getting  late,  I  took  an 
umbrella  to  cross  the  verandah  and  reach  my  room, 
in  doing  which  I  got  quite  drenched.  To  my  horror 
I  found  everything  in  our  room  afloat :  trunk, 
chairs,  table,  all  were  dancing  and  knocking  each 
other  about.  I  called  loudly  for  help.  The  hotel- 
keeper  swore  that  such  a  thing  had  never  occurred 
before ;  but  the  doctor  told  him  he  knew  better,  for 
it  had  happened  to  him  some  months  ago,  and  that 
the  same  remark  had  then  been  made.  To  sleep  in 
the  room  was  impossible,  so  all  our  things  were 
carried  across,  and  our  camp  -  beds  made  up  in 
Monsieur  de  Yilers’s  sitting-room.  We  had  a  good 
laugh  over  it  all,  every  one  carrying  some  garment 
or  piece  of  furniture  for  us.  The  way  we  took  it 
delighted  our  kind  friend,  for  he  said  now  he  knew 
we  should  not  mind  any  contretemps;  and  he 
stamped  us  as  good  travellers  from  that  moment. 

The  next  morning — November  the  10th — we  were 
again  uncertain  if  we  should  be  able  to  start. 
The  men,  as  on  the  previous  day,  were  again 
assembled  outside,  making  a  great  noise,  without 
coming  to  any  definite  conclusion,  although  they 

H 


114 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


had  begun  to  come  down  in  their  prices.  Never¬ 
theless  I  packed,  having  been  told  that  as  soon  as 
the  natives  gave  in  we  must  start.  It  was  fortunate 
I  did  so,  for  they  at  last  agreed  to  go  for  25  francs 
a-head.  That  being  settled,  there  ensued  the  most 
amusing  scramble.  The  luggage  -  porters  made  a 
rush  for  the  rooms,  on  the  principle  that  first  come 
first  served,  which  in  this  case  meant  securing  the 
lightest  load.  Monsieur  d’Anthouard  and  the  doctor 
had  their  work  cut  out  trying  to  keep  them  outside, 
so  as  to  distribute  the  loads  as  they  thought  best, 
— without,  however,  much  success.  The  porters  are 
wonderfully  careful  —  never  losing  anything,  and 
knowing  the  exact  composition  of  each  bundle. 
They  notice  at  once  if  anything  is  changed  in  them, 
as  I  found  out  to  my  cost  later  on  ;  for  having  re¬ 
moved  a  rug  from  the  roll  of  cloaks  and  put  it  in 
another  package,  they  made  such  a  terrific  fuss  that 
I  was  obliged  to  unstrap  everything  and  replace  it. 


ii. 

Our  departure,  which  took  place  at  12.25  p.m., 
was  quite  as  amusing  to  witness  as  that  of  the 
luggage.  We  had  ninety- eight  men  to  carry  our 
party  of  eight,  which  consisted  of  Monsieur  cle 
Vilers,  his  private  secretary  Monsieur  d’Anthouard, 
Doctor  Baissade,  a  native  officer,  our  two  selves, 
and  Monsieur  de  Vilers’s  French  cook  and  valet. 


START  FOR  THE  INTERIOR. 


115 


The  porters  were  all  anxious  to  seize  upon  the 
lightest  weight,  which  was  myself;  so  as  soon  as 
I  appeared  there  was  a  rush  towards  me.  It  was  at 
last  settled  who  were  to  be  my  twelve  bearers, 
and  I  had  scarcely  settled  myself  in  my  Jilanzana, 
when  off  they  galloped  down  the  street,  leaving  my 
umbrella  and  mackintosh  on  the  ground.  Luckily 
Harry  saw  them,  and  picked  them  up. 

The  first  start  in  a  Jilanzana  was  certainly  trying 
to  my  nerves, — the  twelve  bearers  shouting  and 
running  as  hard  as  their  bare  legs  could  carry  them, 
jumping  over  any  obstacle  that  came  in  their  way, 
and  throwing  me  on  to  one  another’s  shoulders  in 
a  fashion  that  made  me  wonder  how  often  during 
the  day  I  should  be  landed  on  my  nose.  But  I  soon 
got  used  to  it,  and  after  the  first  day  or  two  for¬ 
got  to  clutch  hold  of  the  poles.  Four  men  at  a 
time  carry  the  passenger,  always  keeping  step.  The 
men  on  the  left  side  support  the  pole  on  the  right 
shoulders,  holding  it  with  their  right  hands ;  those 
on  the  right  side  have  their  heads  between  the  poles, 
the  right-hand  pole  resting  on  their  right  shoulders, 
while  with  their  left  hands  they  catch  hold  of  their 
companions’  right  wrists,  and  so  steady  each  other. 
Every  half -minute,  without  slackening  their  pace, 
they  throw  the  Jilanzana  on  to  the  shoulders  of 
four  others,  who  in  anticipation  have  been  running 
on  ahead,  so  that  there  should  be  no  pause.  They 
were  a  bright  and  cheery  set  of  people,  never  ceasing 


116 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


to  laugh  and  chatter  the  whole  day,  and  were  like 
a  lot  of  big  children  out  for  a  game  of  ball  —  the 
unfortunate  passenger  being  the  ball.  The  sailors 
description  of  his  camel-ride  over  the  Bayuda  desert 
— that  the  beast  played  cup-and-ball  with  him  the 
whole  way,  and  only  missed  him  twice — would  have 
been  equally  suitable  to  this  mode  of  travelling. 
The  bearers  are  of  a  higher  class  and  generally 
younger  than  the  baggage-porters,  and  are  specially 
trained  to  keep  up  a  fast  rate  of  travelling  day  by 
day.  The  latter  have,  as  a  rule,  enormous  bumps  on 
their  shoulders,  which  I  have  read  are  hereditary ; 
but  my  own  impression  is  that  their  growth  on  each 
individual  is  the  result  of  the  constant  friction  of 
the  long  bamboos  on  which  they  swing  their  loads. 

The  first  part  of  our  route  lay  through  a  wide 
sandy  plain,  dotted  with  alternate  patches  of  short 
grass,  low  scrub,  or  fairly  thick  bush.  In  the 
distance  to  the  right  was  a  range  of  high  hills,  while 
to  the  left  the  constant  roar  showed  that  the  sea 
could  not  be  far  off.  An  hour  and  a  half’s  march 
brought  us  to  Anjolokafa,  a  small  village  built  on  a 
tongue  of  land  between  the  sea  and  the  mouth  of 
the  river  Ivbndrona,  which  here  empties  itself  into 
the  lake  N5sy-Ve. 

This  lake,  or  rather  lagoon,  is  separated  from  the 
sea  by  a  long  and  narrow  strip  of  land.  The  latter 
becomes  an  island  at  high  tide  and  admits  the 
rollers,  making  the  lagoon  impassable  for  canoes. 


ANJOLOKAFA. 


117 


To  our  cliso’ust  we  found  this  to  be  the  case  on  our 

O 

arrival ;  while  a  strong  south-easterly  wind  was  add¬ 
ins;  to  the  roughness  of  the  water.  We  waited  a  few 
hours,  when,  seeing  there  was  no  improvement,  we 
made  up  our  minds  to  spend  the  night  in  the  village, 
and  at  once  set  to  work  to  choose  our  huts.  These 
were  built  of  bamboo,  and  each  consisted  of  a  single 
room,  with  a  mat-covered  floor,  and  a  hearthstone  in 
a  corner  from  which — there  being  no  chimney — the 
smoke  from  the  fire  made  its  way  out  as  best  it 
could  through  the  crevices  of  the  roof.  In  another 
corner  were  several  thick  bamboos  about  seven  feet 
long,  which,  having  had  their  joints  bored  out,  are 
used  as  water-jars — an  ingenious  contrivance,  and 
very  excellent  for  those  who  are  expert  in  its  use, 
but  one  which  requires  considerable  practice,  any  un¬ 
due  elevation  of  the  butt  having  the  effect  of  sending 
the  whole  contents  out  with  a  rush,  as  I  found  to 
my  cost  the  first  time  Harry  tried  to  fill  my  clrink- 
ing-cup  for  me.  Our  camp-beds  were  pitched  under 
a  beam,  from  which  we  hung  the  mosquito-curtains, 
so  that  they  reached  the  ground.  We  thought  sleep¬ 
ing  under  them  rather  close  and  stuffy  at  first,  but 
on  the  one  or  two  occasions  during  the  journey  up 
country  on  which  we  could  find  nothing  to  hang 
them  to,  we  learned  their  value,  for  after  a  sleepless 
night  wTe  woke  up  in  the  morning  with  hands  and 
faces  a  mass  of  mosquito-bites.  The  beds  were  a 
great  success  :  made  of  the  light  framework  of  angle- 


118 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


iron,  they  stood  any  amount  of  wear  and  tear,  were 
set  up  or  folded  for  the  journey  in  a  minute,  and 
were  wonderfully  comfortable. 

While  the  French  cook  was  preparing  an  excellent 
little  dinner,  and  after  we  had  set  the  porters  to 
collect  our  goods  and  put  up  our  beds,  we  made  a 
short  tour  of  the  village  and  its  surroundings.  The 
former  consists  of  about  twenty  bamboo  huts,  with 
palm -thatched  gabled  roofs,  scattered  irregularly 
about  a  singularly  barren  piece  of  ground ;  and  I 
should  imagine  its  only  reason  for  existence  was  its 
proximity  to  the  ferry,  in  working  which  most  of  its 
inhabitants  found  a  livelihood,  and  at  which — as  in 
our  case — travellers  were  very  likely  to  be  delayed. 
We  were  not  the  only  sufferers  on  this  occasion,  for 
soon  after  our  arrival  we  were  overtaken  by  three  of 
the  Sceurs  de  Charite  who  had  been  our  fellow- 
passengers  on  board  the  “Amazone,”  and  who  were 
also  on  their  way  to  the  capital.  The  only  bit  of 
vegetation  which  we  could  see  anywhere  near  was  a 
wild-looking  thicket,  and  to  this  we  turned  our  steps, 
and  were  rewarded  by  finding  a  most  lovely  collec¬ 
tion  of  aloes,  cactus,  flowering-shrubs,  and  a  great 
variety  of  large  ferns,  with  one  or  two  varieties  of 
orchids,  unfortunately  not  in  flower. 

On  returning  to  the  village  we  found  Monsieur 
cTAnthouard  surrounded  by  the  filanzana  porters 
clamouring  for  money.  They  are  given  a  few  bits 
of  the  5 -franc  pieces  every  night  and  morning  to 


queen’s  bodyguards. 


119 


pay  for  their  supper  and  breakfast ;  but  they  are 
never  satisfied  with  what  is  given  them,  and  for  the 
first  day  or  two  they  try  to  find  how  much  they 
can  get  out  of  their  employers.  Monsieur  d’An- 
thouard  was  so  well  up  to  their  tricks  that  he  did 
not  pay  any  attention  to  their  demands,  but  simply 
gave  them  what  he  thought  right,  on  receiving 
which  they  all  went  away  apparently  quite  satisfied. 

Besides  the  porters  attached  to  our  party  were 
two  simanclous,  or  members  of  the  regiment  of  the 
Boyal  Bodyguard,  composed  of  slaves  freed  on  the 
day  of  the  Queen’s  coronation.  They  have  unlimited 
powers  wherever  they  go,  as,  speaking  in  the  Queen’s 
name,  they  can  oblige  the  natives  to  submit  to  the 
corvee,  turn  out  of  their  huts  for  travellers,  and 
leave  any  work  they  may  be  engaged  on  should 
their  services  be  required  as  porters.  One  of  their 
duties  is  to  carry  poison  from  the  sovereign  to  any 
subject  whom  it  may  be  desirable  to  get  rid  of ;  and 
should  the  poison  be  refused,  they  have  orders  to 
use  other  means  to  effect  the  same  end.  As  a  rule, 
the  poor  victims  gracefully  accept  the  bitter  cup 
without  a  word.  The  poison  used,  which  is  very 
deadly,  is  made  from  the  leaves  of  the  tangena- tree, 
which  I  was  shown  the  following  day — a  tall  shrub, 
with  narrow,  pointed,  shiny  leaves.  The  simandous 
wore  breeches,  a  white  drapery  called  a  lamba, 
loosely  thrown  round  them,  and  on  their  heads  the 
hats  of  the  country,  very  much  resembling  those 


120 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


of  Leghorn  straw.  In  their  hands  they  carried  light 
spears,  with  the  butt  ends  made  like  an  ordinary 
spud,  which  they  used  as  walking-sticks. 

We  also  had  accompanying  us  a  young  Hova,  one 
of  the  Queen’s  officers  just  returned  from  France, 
where  he  had  been  sent  to  complete  his  education, 
which,  unless  he  was  a  very  remarkably  unpleasant 
young  man  before  he  started,  had  certainly  not 
improved  him ;  for  his  conceit  was  overpowering, 
and  the  way  in  which  he  treated  the  other  natives 
filled  me  with  the  perpetual  desire  to  ask  some  one 
to  kick  him. 

The  natives  on  this  coast  belong  to  the  Betsimi- 
saraka  tribe,  and  have  dark  skins,  flattened  noses, 
and  curly  hair  ;  while  most  of  our  porters,  who  were 
of  Hova  extraction,  and  who  come  from  the  centre 
of  the  island,  were  copper-coloured,  with  prominent 
cheek-bones,  straight  black  hair,  and  less  flattened 
noses.  Being  so  accustomed  to  travellers,  the 
former  did  not  show  much  curiosity  on  our  arrival ; 
but  having  learned  how  generous  Monsieur  de  Yilers 
was,  the  women  always  came  to  offer  him  presents 
— eggs  and  very  lean  chickens — knowing  full  well 
they  would  get  in  return  good  solid  silver.  After 
presenting  their  gifts,  these  women  often  sang  curi¬ 
ous  doleful  songs,  never  very  loud,  and  going  on  for 
hours,  which  had  on  me  a  restful  effect,  sending  me 
off  to  sleep. 

We  dined  at  three  little  folding-tables  placed  end 


AN  AWKWARD  POSITION. 


121 


to  encl,  each  seated  in  his  own  camp-chair,  brought 
folded  under  his  arm,  as  men  used  to  carry  their 
opera-hats.  After  dinner,  those  of  the  party  who 
had  done  this  journey  before  related  their  various 
experiences  for  our  benefit.  Among  these  was  one 
very  characteristic  of  the  morals  of  the  country. 
The  narrator,  having  stopped  on  the  road  to  the 
capital  at  an  important  village,  in  which  the  Gov¬ 
ernor  of  the  district  resided,  found  that  that  officer 
was  absent.  He  was,  however,  duly  welcomed  by 
the  young  wife.  The  traveller,  not  speaking  Mala¬ 
gasy,  and  wishing  to  show  his  appreciation  of  her 
civility,  patted  her  on  the  cheek,  saying  in  French 
that  she  was  very  pretty.  Soon  after,  he  noticed 
a  discussion  going  on  between  his  hostess  and  his 
interpreter,  at  the  end  of  which  the  latter  in¬ 
formed  him  with  a  deep  bow  that  the  lady  ac¬ 
cepted.  Thinking  that  his  interpreter  —  as  often 
happened — had  made  use  of  the  wrong  word,  he 
thought  no  more  of  the  matter.  Soon  after  his 
dinner  he  retired  to  rest,  when,  to  his  surprise  and 
embarrassment,  Madame  la  Gouverneur  made  her 
appearance,  evidently  with  the  intention  of  making 
a  prolonged  visit.  Then,  and  not  till  then,  did  he 
connect  the  interpreter’s  remark  with  the  harmless 
little  flatteries  which  had  placed  him  in  such  an 
awkward  position. 

There  was  heavy  rain  during  the  early  part  of 
the  night,  which,  besides  keeping  up  an  incessant 


122 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


patter  on  the  palm-leaf  roof,  managed  to  find  its 
way  through  it,  falling  in  occasional  big  drops  all 
over  the  floor  and  beds.  Once  or  twice  I  managed 
to  sleep  by  drawing  my  waterproof  over  my  head  ; 
but  I  suppose  the  stifling  heat  made  me  incautiously 
throw  it  off,  for  in  spite  of  all  precautions  I  was  con¬ 
tinually  being  awakened  by  a  cool  splash  on  my 
cheeks.  The  consequence  was,  it  was  well  into  the 
small  hours  before  I  fairly  fell  asleep.  It  was  there¬ 
fore  with  anything  but  pleasure  that  I  heard  Mon¬ 
sieur  de  Yilers’s  voice  at  the  door  telling  us  it 
was  half-past  four,  and  time  to  get  up.  Tumbling 
out  of  bed  more  asleep  than  awake,  I  had  begun 
leisurely  to  dress,  thinking — if  I  thought  at  all — 
that  there  could  be  no  real  hurry,  when  in  rushed 
the  whole  troop  of  porters,  who  began  packing  up 
everything  we  possessed ;  and  it  was  with  the  greatest 
difficulty  that  I  managed  to  get  them  out  of  the  hut 
comparatively  empty-handed.  Even  then  they  got 
no  farther  than  the  door,  on  which  they  kept  up  a 
continual  tattoo,  occasionally  opening  it  to  see  how 
we  were  getting  on.  This  performance  was  repeated 
on  every  morning  of  our  journey,  but  not  always 
with  so  much  success  on  our  side ;  for  every  now 
and  then  a  porter  would  get  into  the  hut  when  we 
were  not  looking,  and  triumphantly  carry  off  the  one 
bag  containing  everything  necessary  for  dressing. 

We  must  have  made  a  funny  picture  to  our 
visitors,  if  they  were  capable  of  appreciating  it :  I 


THE  MISERIES  OF  AN  EARLY  START. 


123 


struggling  to  dress  and  to  find  my  tilings ;  Harry 
trying  to  shave — a  ceremony  he  never  omitted,  how¬ 
ever  early  the  start, — all  by  the  light  of  one  little 
wax  candle,  which  for  want  of  a  table  had  to  be 
stuck  on  the  floor  by  means  of  a  drop  of  hot  wax, 
and  which  was  constantly  being  blown  out  by  the 
wind  and  toppling  over.  I  must  own  I  was  not 
very  keen  about  these  early  starts,  but  I  soon  found 
out  that  it  was  a  hobby  of  our  host’s  to  go  the 
round  and  wake  everybody  up  before  daylight.  We 
therefore  put  up  with  them  with  a  good  grace, 
and  hastened  to  thoroughly  wake  ourselves  up  with 
the  excellent  cup  of  black  coffee  of  which  we 
always  partook  before  the  start ;  but  the  pleasure 
of  drinking  it  was  rather  marred  by  the  dose  of 
quinine  which  the  doctor  insisted  on  serving  out  at 
the  same  time. 

These  swallowed,  we  were  hurried  off  to  the 
water’s  edge,  where  we  had  to  wait  a  good  half-hour 
wdiile  the  porters  loaded  and  got  ready  the  canoes, 
— unwieldy-looking  things  some  thirty  feet  long  and 
three  broad,  with  pointed  stems  and  sterns,  hollowed 
out  of  the  trunk  of  a  single  tree.  A  curious  mixture 
of  types  were  collected  by  the  misty  lake-side  on 
that  grey  Sunday  morning,  all — except  Monsieur  de 
Vilers,  who  was  always  wide  awake  and  full  of  energy 
— equally  sleepy,  and  desirous  of  being  back  com¬ 
fortably  in  bed,  and  each  trying  to  pass  the  tedi¬ 
ous  time  of  waiting  in  a  different  way :  Monsieur 


124 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


d’Anthouard  giving  directions  to  the  porters,  and 
generally  making  himself  useful ;  the  doctor  care¬ 
fully  stowing  away  in  a  canoe  some  bags  of  specie 
of  which  he  was  taking  charge  for  the  Malagasy 
Government ;  the  three  nuns  telling  their  beads ; 
Harry  lying  on  the  bank  trying  to  pick  up  his  lost 
half-hour  in  bed ;  I  munching  a  crust  of  bread  and 
a  piece  of  chocolate  ;  while  the  porters  shouted  and 
danced,  and  carefully  threw  all  one’s  most  perishable 
baggage  into  the  wettest  part  of  the  canoes. 

At  last  all  was  ready  for  a  start.  The  first  to 
move  off  was  the  doctor  with  his  money-bags. 
I  followed  next  in  my  jilanzana ,  and  was  depos¬ 
ited  in  it  at  the  bottom  of  the  canoe,  thus 
avoiding  the  alternative  of  sitting  in  water,  or 
perching  on  the  top  of  a  pile  of  baggage  which 
already  looked  as  if  it  must  overbalance  the 
narrow  keel-less  craft.  Somebody  gave  a  shove 
from  the  shore,  and  I  found  myself  alone  with 
my  twelve  porters — temporarily  turned  into  boat¬ 
men — who,  shouting  at  the  top  of  their  voices 
all  the  time,  paddled  for  dear  life.  After  about  a 
quarter  of  an  hour  we  came  to  the  part  of  the  lagoon 
directly  across  the  bar,  where,  in  spite  of  the  com¬ 
paratively  low  tide,  the  sea  was  rolling  in  with 
decidedly  unpleasant  force.  As  each  roller  swept 
under  us,  the  canoe  lifted  her  pointed  prow  into  the 
air,  falling  again  into  the  trough  of  the  next  wave 
with  a  splash,  and  shipping  sea  after  sea,  till,  finding 


CROSSING  THE  LAGOON. 


125 


that  the  water  had  risen  to  the  footboard  of  my  filcin- 
zcma,  I  thought  it  was  about  time  to  take  some 
steps  to  get  rid  of  it.  and  accordingly,  doffing  my 
brand-new  helmet,  set  to  work  to  bale  her  out,  a  pro¬ 
ceeding  which  seemed  much  to  amuse  the  men ; 
but  nevertheless  the  oue  nearest  to  me  followed  my 
example,  and  began  trying  to  ladle  out  the  water 
with  his  old  sieve-like  straw  hat.  I  am  afraid  my 


Crossing  Lake  Nosy  -  Ve. 


efforts  and  the  disfigurement  of  my  helmet  were  not 
of  much  avail,  for  the  canoe  seemed  to  get  heavier 
and  heavier,  and  in  spite  of  the  men’s  redoubled 
shouts,  as  with  their  heads  between  their  knees  they 
strained  at  the  paddles,  the  canoe  refused  to  make 
any  headway  against  the  sea.  The  situation  was 
getting  decidedly  critical,  and  our  difficulties  were 
increased  by  our  drifting  into  some  weeds,  among 


126 


THE  ISLAND  OP  MYSTERY. 


which  the  starboard  paddles  could  not  be  worked, 
so  that  we  got  broadside  on  to  the  sea.  I  was 
preparing  at  any  moment  for  a  capsize,  and 
to  exchange  the  company  of  my  Malagasy  boat¬ 
men  for  that  of  the  crocodiles  that  infest  the  lake, 
when,  realising  it  was  a  case  of  now  or  never,  the 
men  gave  another  shout,  and  by  a  supreme  effort 
shot  the  canoe  into  smooth  water. 

On  approaching  the  shore  I  looked  in  vain  for 
the  doctor,  whom  I  had  expected  to  find  waiting 
for  us ;  but  seeing  nothing  but  the  usual  collec¬ 
tion  of  lamba  -  clothed  natives,  I  began  to  fear 
that  some  mishap  had  befallen  his  canoe.  It  was 
not  until  our  craft  had  actually  touched  the  shore 
that,  hearing  his  voice,  I  looked  up  and  discovered 
him  disguised  in  a  bath-towel.  It  seemed  that  he 
had  such  a  drenching  in  his  passage,  that  he  had 
taken  off  all  his  clothes  to  dry  them,  and  had  im¬ 
provised  an  imitation  of  a  native  costume.  Soon 
afterwards  I  was  thankful  to  see  the  other  canoes 
appearing  in  sight,  for  the  tide  and  wind  were  rap¬ 
idly  rising,  and  every  moment  rendered  the  passage 
more  risky. 

As  soon  as  the  last  canoe  had  come  in,  our  tem¬ 
porary  boatmen  resumed  their  usual  duties,  and  lift¬ 
ing  our  fdanzanas  on  to  their  shoulders,  started  off 
at  a  brisk  trot,  leaving  the  baggage-porters  to  dis¬ 
embark  our  luggage  and  follow  us,— the  only  excep¬ 
tion  being  made  in  favour  of  the  cooking-utensils, 


LAKE  RASOABE. 


127 


which,  with  the  French  cook  and  valet,  pushed  on 
ahead  with  all  possible  speed,  that  our  breakfast 
might  be  ready  at  the  mid-day  halting -place — 
Ampanirano — which  we  reached  after  a  five  hours’ 
journey  among  thick  woods,  and  across  miasmic 
swamps  exuding  fetid  vapours  at  every  step,  as  our 
bearers,  wading  knee-deep  in  water,  stirred  up  the 
black  mud  beneath. 

Our  halting -place  was  a  straggling  and  rather 
dirty  village  of  the  usual  bamboo  and  palm -leaf 
huts,  two  of  which,  however,  set  apart  for  the  use 
of  travellers,  wTere  fairly  clean.  Here  we  partook 
of  an  excellent  breakfast,  provided  by  that  treasure 
Alphonse,  and  which  I  for  one  had  been  wanting  for 
some  hours. 

After  a  short  rest  we  started  again,  travelling  for 
two  hours  over  ground  similar  to  that  passed  in  the 
morning ;  after  which  the  character  of  the  country 
suddenly  changed,  and  our  road  lay  through  a 
lovely  park-like  district,  the  ground  covered  with 
crisp  green  turf,  broken  here  and  there  by  clumps 
of  stately  trees,  and  dotted  with  smaller  patches  of 
palms,  mimosa,  tree-ferns,  and  shrubs  that  looked 
like  rhododendrons,  intermingled  with  the  growth 
of  small  plants  and  creepers.  Here  and  there  a 
pretty  peep  was  gained  of  Lake  Rasoabe  and  its 
farther  well -wooded  shores,  while  to  the  left  we 
could  hear  the  sea  breaking  on  the  beach  in  the 
distance.  Animal  life  was  singularly  deficient,  a 


128 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


few  little  birds  being,  as  far  as  I  could  see,  the 
only  inhabitants  of  this  lovely  region. 

After  travelling  through  this  park  for  a  couple  of 
hours,  we  bore  to  our  left  and  marched  along  a 
glaring  sandy  spit  which  lay  between  the  ocean 
and  the  chain  of  lagoons.  On  our  right  was  a 
curious  and  dismal  illustration  of  the  partiality  of 
cyclones.  In  the  region  through  which  we  had  just 
passed  not  a  branch  was  missing  from  the  trees ; 
but  here  was  a  forest  absolutely  stripped  of  all  but 
its  upright  stems,  which  rose  gaunt  and  bare  out  of 
the  sand-dunes  like  the  time-worn  mainmasts  of  a 
sunken  fleet ;  yet  only  three  years  before  they  had 
stood  covered  with  foliage  and  bound  together  with 
creepers,  seemingly  an  indestructible  jungle. 

On  the  beach  grew  a  curious  creeper  with  ivy¬ 
shaped  leaves  and  a  violet  flower,  which  I  was  told 
only  grew  in  the  sand.  I  got  my  men  to  pick  me 
some  of  the  black  seeds,  resembling  those  of  a 
convolvulus,  and  took  them  home  with  me  to 
England,  where,  however,  we  never  succeeded  in 
making  them  flower. 

After  an  hour  and  a  half’s  march,  an  opening  in 
the  lagoon,  with  a  steep  wooded  bank  on  the  farther 
side,  blocked  the  direct  route  along  the  sea-shore, 
and  made  us  again  turn  inland,  crossing  the  channel, 
through  which  the  porters  waded  waist-deep,  seem¬ 
ingly  with  much  enjoyment,  as  they  tucked  up 
their  one  garment,  and  splashed  and  sported  in 


ANDEVORANTE. 


129 


the  water  in  a  way  that  made  me  feel  that  at  any 
moment  I  might  unexpectedly  join  them.  In  course 
of  time,  however,  they  carried  me  over,  safe  and 
dry,  and  we  entered  a  tract  which,  though  well 
wooded,  was  less  lovely  than  that  of  the  earlier 
afternoon,  and  which  stretched  as  far  as  Yavony, 
our  resting-place  for  the  night,  where  we  arrived 
at  six  o’clock,  having  done  about  forty  miles. 

The  next  morning  we  started  at  4.50,  travel¬ 
ling  through  very  much  the  same  sort  of  wooded 
country,  and  only  passing  one  village — the  little 
hamlet  of  Andavakamenarana  —  until  about  seven, 
when  we  reached  Andevorante,  the  most  important 
town,  after  Tamatave,  on  this  coast.  As  the  nearest 
point  to  the  capital,  and  that  from  which  the  road 
begins  to  run  direct,  it  would  seem  to  be  the  natural 
port  of  Antananarivo  ;  and  there  can  be  little  doubt 
that  it  will  become  so  if  the  road  is  ever  opened  to 
the  latter  place.  The  mouth  of  the  river  Tharoka 
forms  a  fine  harbour,  at  present  rendered  inacces¬ 
sible  by  the  bar  stretching  across  it.  This,  how¬ 
ever,  is  probably  not  more  formidable  than  many 
similar  ones — such  as  that  at  Durban — which  have 
been  opened  as  soon  as  the  exigencies  of  trade 
demanded  it. 

Monsieur  de  Yilers  stopped  at  Andevorante  to 
inspect  the  guard  of  honour  that  had  been  formed 
up  to  receive  him  ;  and  although  we  pushed  straight 
on,  we  had  time,  as  we  passed,  to  note  its  appear- 

i 


130 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


ance,  which  was  decidedly  picturesque,  though  rather 
wanting  in  uniformity.  Officers  and  men  were 
dressed  in  every  variety  of  what  had  once  been 
uniforms — coats  of  blue  or  red  or  green,  facings 
of  equally  various  hues,  trousers  long  and  short, 
and  in  some  cases  wholly  absent,  and  caps  and 
helmets  of  every  conceivable  shape.  After  leaving 
Andevorante,  we  journeyed  for  about  half  an  hour 
along  the  sand-spit  which  separates  the  river  Tha- 
roka  from  the  sea,  till  we  arrived  at  the  place  where 
the  canoes  for  our  passage  were  supposed  to  be 
collected.  Bat  only  three  were  there,  and  conse¬ 
quently  the  transit  of  ourselves  and  baggage  was 
rather  a  lengthy  operation. 

The  latter  was  sent  off  first,  and  while  waiting  for 
the  canoes  to  return,  I  took  a  stroll  along  the  bank 
with  Monsieur  de  Tilers  in  search  of  flowers.  Nearly 
all  were  strange  to  me,  and  so  beautiful  that  I  should 
have  liked  to  dig  up  a  whole  sackful,  but,  bearing 
in  mind  our  limited  means  of  transport,  had  to  con¬ 
tent  myself  with  some  lovely  small  red-and-black 
seeds  of  a  creeper  which  was  very  abundant.  On 
our  return  to  the  boats  my  porters  brought  me  a 
curious  yellow  fruit,  the  size  of  an  orange,  with  a 
hard  shell,  which  on  being  opened  disclosed  a  pulpy 
interior.  I  was  not  allowed  to  eat  it  for  fear  it  was 
poisonous  ;  but  I  afterwards  learned  it  was  the  deli¬ 
cious  juicy  voavontcika ,  which  is  so  prized  for  its 
refreshing  qualities. 


STOPPING  A  LEAK. 


131 


When  our  turn  came  to  cross,  we  found  that  even 
the  few  canoes  available  were  of  the  most  aged 
and  unseaworthy  kind.  The  one  in  which  I  was  had 
so  big  a  hole  in  her  bows  that  when  she  was  fully 
laden  the  water  poured  in.  My  boatman,  however, 
thought  nothing  of  such  a  little  defect,  which  he  soon 
remedied  by  the  simple  expedient  of  sitting  down  in 
the  hole  !  The  country  on  the  farther  side  of  the 
river  was  a  flat  alluvial  tract  covered  alternately  with 
cultivation  and  thickish  bush,  and  intersected  here 
and  there  by  streams,  one  of  the  largest  of  which  we 
had  to  cross  by  a  bridge  formed  of  two  slender  tree- 
trunks,  so  narrow  that  the  bearers  had  to  lean  out¬ 
wards  with  feet  and  hips  touching,  and  bodies  over¬ 
hanging  the  stream  on  either  side — rather  nervous 
work  until  I  got  accustomed  to  it ;  but  I  soon  found 
that  the  men  never  lost  their  footing  with  a  light 
weight  on  their  shoulders,  and  I  ended  by  feeling 
that  they  would  take  me  safely  over  every  obstacle. 

At  9.50  we  halted  for  breakfast  at  Taniman- 
dry,  a  stockaded  village  with  a  small  Hova  gar¬ 
rison,  and  the  first  telegraph-station  on  the  line  from 
the  coast  to  the  capital.  After  a  good  breakfast,  and 
a  siesta  on  the  flat  of  our  backs — which  we  all  found 
was  the  only  position  that-  thoroughly  rested  us  after 
sitting  upright  for  so  long  in  the  jilanzana — we 
started  again  in  a  westerly  direction,  through  a 
marshy  country,  where  here  and  there  a  little  rice  is 
grown  ;  after  which  we  began  to  ascend  the  first  steps 


132 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


of  the  great  table-land  occupying  the  centre  of  the 
island— a  very  irregularly  formed  plateau  of  red  clay 
hills  covered  with  scant  grass,  and  almost  wholly 
treeless.  The  most  curious  feature  of  the  coun¬ 
try  is  the  apparent  absence  of  valleys  :  the  hills 
struck  me  as  being  more  like  a  number  of  gigantic 
bubbles  or  blisters  than  the  ordinary  undulations 
one  is  accustomed  to  see ;  and  the  depressions  be¬ 
tween  them,  having  no  outlets,  are  consequently 
very  swampy  and  difficult  to  pass.  They,  however, 
made  up  in  vegetation  for  the  barrenness  of  the 
hill-tops ;  and  each  was  filled  with  a  lovely  thicket 
of  fern-trees,  palms,  and  wild  pine-apples,  mingled 
with  a  wealth  of  such  tropical  flowers  as  love  these 
sheltered  airless  nooks. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  we  came  to  the  river  Ma- 
hela,  a  rapid  stream  about  a  hundred  yards  wide, 
with  steep  clay  banks  fringed  with  a  thick  growth  of 
the  small-leaved  bamboo.  On  the  right  bank,  near 
the  ferry,  were  a  few  very  miserable  native  huts, 
whose  occupants  were  only  able  to  produce  three  of 
the  smallest  of  dug-out  canoes  for  our  passage  across. 
The  crossing  consequently  took  a  long  time  ;  and 
when  finally  we  all  got  to  the  opposite  shore,  our 
porters  had  to  put  their  best  feet  foremost  to  get  to 
the  next  village  before  dark. 

It  is  extraordinary  what  these  men  can  do  when 
they  set  their  minds  to  it.  They  had  been  going,  on 
and  off,  since  long  before  daybreak — the  early  part  of 


A  SLIPPERY  RIDE. 


IQ  Q 

OO 

the  day  through  heavy  swampy  ground,  and  after¬ 
wards  up  and  down  steep  wet  clay  hills,  at  times  so 


Down-hill. 


slippery  that  the  back  pair  of  each  set  of  porters  had 


134 


THE  ISLAND  OB"  MYSTERY. 


to  sit  on  their  heels  and  act  as  a  drag  during  the 
descent.  In  spite  of  all  this,  from  the  time  we  left 
the  Mahela  until  we  reached  our  halting-place  for 
the  night,  I  do  not  think  they  ever  ceased  running, 
chattering,  and  laughing  for  a  moment,  keeping  up 
a  good  jog-trot  up  the  hills,  a  steady  run  on  the  flat, 
and  literally  taking  away  one’s  breath  by  the  pace  at 
which  they  slid  and  bounded  down  the  slopes.  The 
country  on  this  side  of  the  river  was  far  more  regular 
in  character  than  that  on  its  eastern  bank,  and  con¬ 
sisted  of  a  series  of  hills  and  valleys,  mostly  running 
north  and  south  —  that  is,  at  right  angles  to  our 
route.  At  the  bottom  of  most  of  the  valleys  were 
streams,  some  fairly  broad  and  easily  fordable, 
others  narrow  with  abrupt  clay  banks,  down  the  first 
of  which  the  Jilanzanci  had  to  be  lowered,  feet  first, 
at  such  an  angle  that  one  expected  it  would  topple 
over  the  “  leaders’  ”  heads ;  while  the  next  moment 
the  ascent  on  the  other  side  found  one  reclining 
gracefully  on  the  back  of  the  chair,  one’s  head  rest¬ 
ing  on  the  “  wheelers’  ”  bare  shoulders. 

Tiie  valleys  were  luxuriantly  clothed  with  palms 
and  bamboos.  Among  the  former  I  noticed  quan¬ 
tities  of  the  useful  and  ornamental  Rafia ,  and,  for 
the  first  time,  the  “  Traveller’s  tree,”  bare-stemmed 
and  with  banana-like  leaves.  These,  however,  only 
grow  near  the  top,  and,  unlike  those  of  other  palms, 
which  grow  all  round  the  stem,  are  in  two  vertical 
rows  on  opposite  sides  of  the  trunk.  The  effect 


MANAMBONITEA. 


135 


when  facing  it  is  that  of  an  outspread  fan.  The 
stems  of  the  leaves  being  hollowed  at  their  junction 
with  the  trunk,  form  the  troughs  for  the  collection 
of  rain  -  water,  from  which  it  earns  its  name.  Of 
bamboos,  the  graceful  small  -  leaved  variety  was 
most  plentiful,  some  of  them  rising  in  single  stems 
to  over  forty  feet  in  height,  the  tender  top-shoots 
hanging  over,  meeting  their  neighbours,  and  form- 
ing  long  vistas  of  Gothic  arches. 

A  couple  of  hours’  run  across  this  undulating 
plateau  brought  us  to  the  edge  of  a  deep  valley,  at 
the  bottom  of  which  lay  our  destination — Manam- 
bonitra — a  good  -  sized,  prosperous  -  looking  village, 
surrounded  by  coffee-plantations,  patches  of  sugar- 
canes,  rice,  and  tobacco,  and  encircled  by  hedges  of 
the  edible  passion-flower. 

Having  got  out  of  the  district  of  regular  travellers’ 
huts,  we  were  put  up  in  a  room  occupied  by  a  Mala¬ 
gasy  family,  who  themselves  turned  out  on  our 
arrival,  without,  however,  taking  with  them  the 
varied  collection  of  birds,  animals,  and  insects  with 
whom  they  seemed  to  be  in  the  habit  of  living. 
We  began  by  turning  out  the  pigs  and  dogs,  but 
soon  found  that  the  noise  they  made  scratching 
against  and  squeezing  through  the  cracks  of  the 
slim  bamboo  door  was  worse  than  their  presence 
in  their  accustomed  corners.  The  pigs  were  very 
harmless,  and  usually  lived  behind  a  little  trellis 
of  bamboos,  making  a  charming  lullaby  with  their 


136 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


grunts.  Dogs  I  did  not  like  so  much ;  they  came 
sniffing  round  our  beds,  trying  to  find  something  to 
eat,  and  growling  and  tumbling  over  each  other  all 
night.  The  fowls  and  ducks  we  made  no  attempt 
to  disturb,  and  they  repaid  our  kindness  by  inter¬ 
fering  as  little  as  possible  with  our  rest ;  the  former 
roosting  quietly  on  the  rafters  over  our  heads,  and 
the  latter  huddled  in  a  corner  behind  another  trellis 
like  that  which  accommodated  the  pigs.  Of  course 
the  village  cock  was  as  offensively  boastful  of  his 
early  rising  as  in  other  countries,  but  we  had  the 
luck  never  to  share  the  same  hut  with  him.  The 
insect  population  we  made  every  attempt  to  get  rid 
of,  but  with  painful  want  of  success.  I  spent  most 
of  the  night  having  great  hunts  among  it — lighting 
up  every  quarter  of  an  hour,  much  to  the  disgust  of 
Harry,  who  was  quite  insect-proof,  and  did  not  at 
all  see  the  fun  of  being  disturbed ;  but  not  being 
able  to  sleep  myself,  I  could  not  resist  the  tempta¬ 
tion.  I  found  the  blanket  -  bag  in  which  I  slept 
was  an  excellent  trap ;  for  after  one  or  two  bites 
they  burrow  in  the  warm  wool,  and  can  then  be 
caught  by  dozens. 

The  next  morning — the  beginning  of  our  fourth 
day’s  journey — we  started  at  five  in  a  good  down¬ 
pour,  and  after  crossing  the  Mahela  river  again, 
passed  over  the  same  sort  of  undulating  country  as 
on  the  previous  afternoon.  We  halted  for  break¬ 
fast  at  Ambatoharanana,  a  dirty  little  village  some 


THE  PLACE  OF  MUCH  SAND. 


137 


U 


600  feet  above  the  sea,  at  the  bottom  of  a  valley 
ankle-defep  in  mud,  and  hot  and  steamy  after  the 
morning-s  rain.  Half  the  hut  we  were  in  was 

o 

taken  up  with  a  pile  of  packing-cases  and  hydraulic- 
pressed  bales  on  their  way  to  the  Queen  ;  but  I  was 
told  that  months  might  elapse  before  they  reached 
their  destination.  As  all  her  transport  is  conducted 
on  the  coi'vee  system,  the  porterage  has  to  be  pro¬ 
vided  by  each  village  in  succession ;  and  until  some 
one  turns  up  to  put  a  little  pressure  on  the  head 
man,  the  task  is  indefinitely  postponed.  After 
breakfast,  threading  our  heads  again  through  the 
square  holes  of  our  Poncho  waterproofs,  we  started 
off  in  a  regular  deluge,  the  men  sliding  in  every 
direction,  noisy  as  ever,  and  going  at  such  a 
pace  that  I  found  it  impossible  to  hold  up  an 
umbrella.  As  we  went  on,  the  features  of  the 
country  became  more  pronounced,  and  more  thickly 
covered  with  bush,  which  rather  stopped  our  pro¬ 
gress,  as  there  was  often  barely  room  for  the  men 
to  run  two  abreast.  The  birds  also  became  more 
plentiful :  we  saw  quantities  of  little  green  parro- 
quets,  as  well  as  birds  with  metallic-looking  feathers, 
the  size  of  blackbirds. 

That  night  we  slept  at  Ampasimbe,  “  The  place 
of  much  sand,”  situated  in  a  depression  in  the  next 
great  step  towards  the  central  plateau,  at  the  height 
of  about  1000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea — a  larg- 
ish,  clean  village,  in  which  we  were  put  up  in  a  very 


138 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


good  hut,  where,  after  the  usual  rush  of  the  natives 
to  fetch  water  for  the  travellers,  we  enjoyed  a 
refreshing  tub.  While  waiting  for  dinner  outside 
Monsieur  de  Vilers’s  big  hut,  we  were  entertained  by 
the  women  of  the  place,  who  went  through  a  curious 
performance,  something  between  a  dance  and  a 
processional  march,  walking  along  with  a  curious 
swaying  movement,  their  hands  outstretched  from 
their  sides,  the  backs  curved  upwards  and  slightly 
quivering,  said  to  be  in  imitation  of  the  flight  of  the 
falcon,  the  royal  emblem  of  Madagascar. 

While  we  were  at  dinner  we  heard  a  shot  fired, 
and  soon  afterwards  in  rushed  the  little  Malagasy 
officer  in  a  fearful  state  of  excitement,  asking,  “  Had 
we  heard  it  ?  Where  did  it  come  from  ?  Who  was 
trying  to  murder  us  ?  ”  and  a  few  more  incoherent 
questions  all  in  oue  breath,  at  which  we  only  burst 
out  laughing, — Monsieur  de  Vilers  telling  him  he 
really  did  not  know,  and  that  he  had  better  go  and 
find  out  for  himself.  Off  he  went,  shortly  after 
returning  in  great  glee,  having  caught  the  would-be 
murderer,  and  tied  him  hand  and  foot  so  that  he 
should  not  escape ;  for  he  felt  sure  the  man  had 
intended  to  shoot  “ Monsieur  le  ministry”  and  that 
it  was  his  duty  as  a  Malagasy  officer  to  have  him 
punished.  Our  host  was  amused  at  his  zeal,  but 
begged  he  would  do  nothing  further  until  he  had  him¬ 
self  seen  the  man.  So  after  we  had  had  our  coffee 
and  cigarettes  we  all  went  to  interview  the  prisoner. 


THE  ASSASSINS  REVOLVER. 


139 


I  never  saw  such  a  frightened -looking  creature  as 
this  terrible  criminal !  Trembling  all  over,  he  ex¬ 
plained  that  the  revolver  was  an  old  friend,  whom 
for  years  he  had  been  trying  to  let  off,  but  until 
then  without  success,  and  with  many  beseeching 
gestures  begged  that  be  might  be  pardoned  for  its 
unexpected  behaviour.  On  examining  the  rusty 
old  weapon,  our  party  agreed  that  he  was  quite 
justified  in  supposing  it  would  not  go  off,  but 
were  also  surprised  that,  having  gone  off,  anything 
should  have  remained  of  it  or  its  owner.  Neverthe¬ 
less  it  was  decided,  in  deference  to  the  wish  of  the 
local  authorities,  that  the  poor  wretch  should  be 
kept  a  prisoner  until  after  our  departure  next  day. 

W  e  were  awakened  next  morning  by  the  usual  cry 
of  “  Cafe !”  and  starting  at  4.45,  soon  got  on  to 
the  main  track,  off  which  our  halting-place  lay  at 
some  little  distance  ;  and  after  a  very  steep  climb  for 
about  an  hour,  we  entered  the  outer  belt  of  the  great 
forest,  following  a  very  rough  path,  winding  in  and 
out,  and  over  trunks  of  fallen  trees,  till  another 
descent  brought  us  down  into  a  fiat  open  valley. 
I  thoroughly  enjoyed  the  beauties  of  that  first  bit 
of  forest,  with  its  tangled  masses  of  the  ‘  ‘  monkey- 
ropes”  and  creeping  bamboos  smothering  the  larger 
timber,  as  ivy  does  in  the  woods  at  home  ;  and  I 
was  quite  sorry  when  we  left  it  for  the  open  valley. 
After  a  few  days  of  it,  however,  I  found  it  became 
deadly  monotonous,  and  longed  for  a  breath  of  fresh 


140 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


air  and  a  glimpse  of  the  sun.  The  curious  absence 
of  animal  life  and  sounds  had  a  very  depressing 
effect,  especially  at  night,  when  the  silence  was 
alone  broken  by  the  weird  barking  of  the  lemurs, 
the  only  wild  animals  we  ever  heard — and  I  believe 
the  only  ones  in  the  island — and  even  of  these  we 
never  caught  a  glimpse. 

After  leaving  the  forest,  the  path — mostly  follow¬ 
ing  the  beds  of  watercourses — led  down  a  steep  slope 
until  we  reached  the  village  of  Beforana,  when  it 
turns  a  little  to  the  northwards,  and  passing  over  a 
succession  of  red  clay  hills,  each  a  little  higher  than 
its  predecessor,  plunges  for  good  into  the  forest, 
virgin  and  overcrowded,  a  mass  of  upright  giants 
and  their  fallen  and  decaying  brethren,  mingled  with 
every  variety  of  creeper  and  orchid,  but  still  lacking 
the  tropical  rankness  of  the  low-lying  bush  of  the 
coast.  I  should  often  have  liked  to  have  stopped 
and  had  a  closer  look  at  the  many  strange  plants 
round  me,  but  as  in  these  narrow  paths  the  stoppage 
of  one  jilanzana  often  brings  the  whole  column  in 
rear  to  a  halt,  I  had  to  press  on.  I,  however,  got 
my  men  to  pick  me  some  orchid -plants  to  send 
home,  which  I  did  with  no  success — on  account,  as 
I  was  afterwards  told,  of  their  having  been  packed 
in  air-tiffht  cases. 

o 

At  10.15  we  stopped  at  the  small  woodcutters’ 
village  of  Ambasaniasy  for  breakfast,  for  which  as 
usual  I  was  more  than  ready.  I  suffered  so  much 


“the  forest  that  weeps.”  141 

from  hunger  in  these  long  morning  marches  that 
Monsieur  cle  Vilers  gave  me  a  supply  of  chocolate 
on  which  to  keep  myself  going.  Once  I  gave  a  bit 
to  one  of  my  men,  and  was  amused  to  see  the 
friendly  terms  that  they  were  all  on :  the  one  to 
wrhom  I  had  given  it,  after  taking  a  nibble,  passed 
it  on  to  his  companion,  who  did  the  same,  and  so 
it  went  the  whole  round  of  my  twelve  bearers.  I 
always  noticed  that  anything  they  picked  up  was 
equally  divided  among  them. 

We  started  again  at  12.10,  the  road  getting  worse 
at  every  step,  running  in  a  nearly  straight  line  over 
hill  and  dale,  without  the  smallest  attempt  to  humour 
the  gradients.  We  occasionally  passed  up  and  down 
slopes  which  I  was  told  had  been  measured  by  an 
officer  and  found  to  be  over  45°,  and  which,  from 
the  slippery  nature  of  the  soil  in  “  The  forest  that 
weeps,”  would  be  very  difficult,  even  if  far  less  steep. 
Here  and  there  a  vague  attempt  at  engineering  had 
been  made  by  broadening  a  torrent-bed  sufficiently 
to  allow  of  the  packages  for  the  capital  to  pass. 
These  watercourses  are  often  from  fifteen  to  twenty- 
five  feet  deep,  with  almost  precipitous  sides  ;  about 
four  feet  wide  at  the  height  of  a  man’s  shoulders, 
and  only  three  feet  in  width  at  the  bottom.  One 
can  easily  imagine  the  difficulties  porters  have  to  en¬ 
counter,  when  one  remembers  that  heavy  packages, 
such  as  grancl-pianos, — I  actually  saw  one  in  the 
capital, — have  to  be  carried  along  this  road. 


142 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


I  have  never  seen  a  road  so  badly  chosen,  or  one 
on  which  so  little  engineering  skill  had  been  ex¬ 
pended.  Not  only  had  no  attempt  been  made  to 
turn  the  various  ascents  and  descents  encountered, 
but,  by  rigidly  following  the  bottoms  of  the  valleys 
and  watercourses,  the  road  passed  alternately  over 
tracts  of  level  swamp  and  almost  unclimbable  slopes, 
when  by  the  simple  expedient  of  gradually  ascend¬ 
ing  along  the  sides  of  the  valleys  both  exils  would 
have  been  avoided.  It  is  a  noticeable  fact,  that 
while  in  the  central  plateau  of  Imerina  the  routes 
are  always  intelligently  chosen,  the  path  through  the 
forest  runs  due  east  and  west,  regardless  of  obstacles, 
until  it  reaches  the  coast  at  a  point  nobody  wants 
to  arrive  at,  and  thence  turns  abruptly  along  the 
sea-shore  to  Tamatave. 

Harry  started  a  theory  from  this  that  Imerina 
had  been  originally  colonised  from  the  west,  and 
that  its  semi -civilised  inhabitants  having  lost  the 
sense  of  locality  common  to  all  savages,  and  having, 
owing  to  the  absence  of  the  larger  fauna,  no  tracks 
to  guide  them,  were  afraid  to  trust  themselves  to 
the  forest  except  when  following  a  straight  line  on 
the  rising  sun  or  along  the  beds  of  watercourses. 
If,  he  said,  the  road  had  been  made  from  the  coast 
by  Malay  pirates — one  theory  of  the  origin  of  the 
Hovas  —  it  would,  however  stupidly  chosen,  un¬ 
doubtedly  have  run  straight  inland  from  Tamatave  ; 
while  had  it  been  made  by  pure  savages,  even 


THE  HOVA  COUNTRY. 


143 


without  the  first  guidance  of  wild  beasts,  it  would 
have  been  more  intelligently  laid  out. 

At  four  o’clock  we  reached  Analamazaotra,  the 
frontier  Hova  station,  having  risen  1400  feet  in 
the  last  twelve  miles,  the  village  itself  being  3130 
feet  above  the  sea -level.  It  is  a  large  and  pros¬ 
perous  place,  built  in  a  big  clearing.  The  native 
type  here  was  totally  different  from  that  wre  had 
hitherto  come  across.  The  inhabitants  of  all  the 
villages  up  to  this  had  been  black,  with  short  curly 
hair  and  negro  type  of  feature,  and  showed  every 
sign  of  being  of  African  origin.  The  Hovas,  on  the 
contrary,  whom  we  had  now  got  amongst,  had  com¬ 
plexions  little  darker  than  those  of  the  peasantry 
of  Southern  Europe,  straight  black  hair,  rather  sharp 
features,  slim  figures,  and  were  unmistakably  of  the 
Asiatic  type. 

As  we  stood  in  the  doorway  of  our  hut,  a  huge 
wall  of  trees,  distant  from  a  quarter  to  half  a  mile, 
hemmed  us  in  on  every  side.  To  the  west,  standing 
out  in  strong  contrast  to  the  delicate  greens  and 
yellows  of  the  cultivated  fields,  the  lemon-groves, 
thickets  of  wild  pine-apples  and  passion-flowers  in 
full  bloom,  it  was  hard  and  black,  and,  except  in 
outline,  shapeless.  To  the  east,  lit  up  by  the  set¬ 
ting  sun,  it  shone  in  every  variety  of  hue,  through 
purple,  bronze,  brown,  and  olive-green  to  brightest 
emerald — a  softly  dimpled  mass. 

Although  the  distance  covered  during  the  day’s 


144 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


march  had  been  small,  the  men  having  barely 
averaged  three  miles  an  hour,  owing  to  the  extra¬ 
ordinary  badness  of  the  road,  they  had  had  a  hard 
day’s  work,  having  had  constantly  to  stoop  right 
down  to  enable  us  to  pass  under  the  big  half-fallen 
trunks  of  trees,  or  else  go  out  of  their  way  to  avoid 
creepers  hanging  like  great  cobwebs  across  the  road. 
Monsieur  de  Vilers  made  them  a  present  of  an  ox — 
a  wretchedly  lean  old  beast,  which  I  had  seen  being 
led  down  the  street,  but  whose  fate  I  did  not  realise 
until,  hearing  a  fiendish  noise  outside  our  hut  while 
I  was  unpacking,  I  looked  out  and  saw  all  the  men 
pushing,  shoving,  and  scrambling  for  the  best  pieces 
of  meat,  they  having  already  killed,  skinned,  and 
cut  up  the  poor  animal. 

The  following  day  we  started  at  5.15  a.m.,  again 
plunging  into  the  forest,  in  which  we  kept  for  about 
three  hours,  then  gradually  descended  into  a  swampy 
valley  about  four  miles  broad,  and  covered  with  rice- 
fields.  The  young  shoots  were  then  a  few  inches 
out  of  the  water  in  which  they  are  sown.  I  watched 
with  much  interest  the  process  of  transplanting, 
which  was  being  carried  on  as  we  passed  by  a 
number  of  bare-limbed  and  bare-headed  boys  and 
women,  mostly  slaves.  Before  the  young  plants 
are  moved,  about  half-a-dozen  oxen  are  driven  into 
the  small  square  spaces,  enclosed  by  low  mud-ridges, 
and  are  goaded  and  harassed  by  a  gang  of  shouting 
boys  until  the  poor  beasts  have  rushed  about  suffi- 


A  HIGH-BORN  HOYA. 


145 


ciently  to  tread  the  muddy  ground  into  a  pulp,  and 
thus  make  it  ready  for  the  reception  of  the  rice- 
plants.  Even  the  hillsides  had  with  great  labour 
been  utilised  by  building  a  series  of  terraces,  each 
irrigated  by  a  stream  which  flowed  into  the  valley. 

Leaving  this  cultivated  bit,  we  again  got  into  the 
forest,  or  rather  a  belt  of  it ;  for  after  a  couple  of 
hours  in  it,  and  a  sharp  ascent  of  another  half-hour, 
we  found  ourselves  on  a  high  grass  -  covered  pass, 
from  which,  backwards,  we  got  a  grand  view  of  the 
forest  through  which  we  had  been  travelling  for  the 
last  three  days ;  while  in  front  of  us  was  the  open 
valley  of  the  Mangoro,  bounded  on  the  east  by  a 
bold  range  of  hills.  After  two  or  three  more  ups 
and  downs,  some  of  them  remarkably  steep  and 
slippery,  we  got  on  to  a  track  which  made  some 
attempt  to  accommodate  itself  to  the  ground  by 
winding  round  spurs  and  the  heads  of  ravines,  and 
gradually  descended  into  the  Ankay  plain,  on  the 
edge  of  which  we  halted  for  breakfast  at  Moramanga 
— a  market  town  and  seat  of  Government,  with  well- 
built  brick  houses. 

We  were  welcomed  by  the  Governor  of  the  pro¬ 
vince — a  high-born  Hova,  and  an  officer  of  “  twelve 
honours,”  who  turned  out  his  troops  to  receive 
the  Resident  -  General ;  but  he  —  a  little  copper- 
coloured  man  with  sleek  black  hair — was  himself  in 
European  plain  clothes,  black  frock-coat,  and  tall 
hat.  He  was  invited  to  breakfast  with  us  ;  and 

K 


146 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


although  he  could  not  speak  French,  with  the  help 
of  Doctor  Baissade,  who  acted  as  interpreter,  made 
himself  very  agreeable.  While  the  men  of  the  party 
were  smoking  their  cigarettes  after  breakfast  in  the 
open  air,  I,  feeling  very  tired,  lay  down  on  the 
matted  floor,  but  was  soon  roused  by  loud  shouts 
and  roars  of  laughter  outside  ;  and  running  out, 
I  saw  all  our  porters  trying  to  catch  a  wild-looking 
ox — a  present  from  the  Governor  to  Monsieur  de 
Vilers — which  was  charging  them,  and  sending  them 
flying  in  all  directions.  The  more  they  shouted,  the 
wilder  it  got ;  and  it  ended  by  breaking  through 
them,  and,  escaping  to  the  plain,  never  to  be  seen 
again  by  its  new  proprietor — although  I  have  no 
doubt  that  it  returned  in  due  course  to  its  original 
master,  and  perhaps  lived  to  be  presented  again  to 
other  distinguished  visitors. 

On  leaving  the  town  we  were  escorted  some  way 
by  the  Governor — a  pure  matter  of  form  ;  for  march¬ 
ing  as  we  did  in  single  file  at  top  speed,  any  attempt 
at  conversation  was  impossible ;  and  the  porters  race 
each  other  and  scatter,  so  that  he  had  not  even  the 
chance  of  bidding  us  farewell  in  a  body.  We  were 
now  on  a  stretch  of  grassy  plain,  which  for  the  next 
two  hours  afforded  good  going  for  the  men,  who  did 
not  seem  the  least  fatigued  by  their  wild  chase  after 
the  bullock.  No  wonder  they  become  so  excited 
when  there  is  a  prospect  of  getting  meat,  their  usual 
food  being  composed  of  manioc  or  sweet-potatoes,  and 


MALAGASY  RESTAURANTS. 


147 


sometimes  rice ;  but  even  of  these  they  seem  to  eat 
very  little  during  the  day.  In  the  most  deserted 
parts  of  the  road  one  comes  upon  two  or  three 
women  sitting  together  by  the  side  of  the  path — 
almost  always  hideous  old  hags — boiling  the  manioc- 
roots  over  a  small  fire,  round  which  they  have  gen¬ 
erally  built  a  mud  wall,  in  horse-shoe  shape,  about 
four  feet  hiffh.  These  are  the  restaurants  on  the 

O 

Antananarivo  road  ;  and  at  one  of  them  during  the 
course  of  a  day’s  march  our  men  would  stop  for  a 
couple  of  minutes  and  buy  a  handful  of  this  root, 
all  that  I  saw  them  eat  between  sunrise  ajid  sunset. 

Towards  three  o’clock  we  reached  the  river  Man- 
goro,  a  swift  stream  about  120  yards  wide,  running 
between  high  banks  fringed  with  palms  and  bam¬ 
boos,  casting  lovely  reflections  in  the  water.  As 
there  was  a  plentiful  supply  of  big  canoes,  the 
passage  was  soon  accomplished,  and  we  were  each 
able  to  cross  over  with  our  filanzana  and  our  twelve 
bearers  in  the  canoe  with  us.  Having  reached  the 
other  side,  we  at  once  mounted  a  high  and  very 
steep  hill,  on  the  summit  of  which  we  stopped 
for  a  few  moments,  and  got  off  our  filanzanas  to 
let  our  men  take  breath,  and  to  enjoy  the  glorious 
panorama  stretched  on  all  sides  beneath  us.  The 
farther  slop  e  of  the  hill  was  even  steeper  than  that 
we  had  just  climbed,  and,  if  anything,  much  more 
slippery  ;  and  after  the  hard  pull  up  they  had  just 
had,  I  expected  that  the  men  would  go  down  it 


148 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


quietly,  but  nothing  of  the  sort !  Off  they  started  as 
fast  as  their  legs  could  carry  them,  throwing  me  like 
a  ball  from  one  to  the  other’s  shoulders.  I  am  not 
ashamed  to  say  I  held  on  like  grim  death,  for  most 
of  the  party  had  had  falls  at  one  time  or  another,  so 
that  I  was  not  at  all  sure  when  my  turn  would  come. 
They  only  stopped  when  we  reached  Ambodinifody, 
a  small  and  dirty  village  of  about  twenty  huts,  built 
in  the  bottom  of  a  valley  running  into  that  of  the 
Mangoro,  at  a  short  distance  from  the  point  where 
we  had  crossed  it ;  consequently  a  very  slight  detour 
would  have  turned  the  high  and  steep  cone-shaped 
hill  over  which  we  had  just  climbed.  Having 
arrived  rather  early,  we  went  for  a  walk  in  the 
village,  where  I  was  offered  a — to  me — new  species 
of  bird,  that  a  little  boy  was  carrying  about  dead 
in  his  hand.  It  wTas  of  a  curious  grey-blue  colour, 
and  I  nowT  believe  was  of  the  cuckoo  tribe ;  and  I 
am  sorry  I  did  not  buy,  skin,  and  send  it  home.  But 
by  the  end  of  the  day’s  run  in  the  open  air,  I  always 
found  that  my  energy  had  nearly  evaporated,  and 
that  my  chief  thoughts  were  of  dinner  and  bed. 

We  started  next  morning  at  five,  leading  up  the 
valley  for  a  couple  of  hours  through  swamps  and 
rice-fields,  and  passing  several  little  villages  of  well- 
built  brick  houses.  Then  climbing  a  steep  hill,  the 
last  of  the  great  steps  to  the  plateau,  we  entered 
what  proved  to  be  the  innermost  belt  of  the  forest. 


THE  HOVA  COUNTRY. 


149 


III. 

Although  we  were  now  in  the  Hova  province, 
and  within  a  forced  march  of  the  capital,  the  forest- 
track,  so  far  from  having  improved,  was  the  worst 
we  had  yet  met  with.  The  succession  of  ups  and 
downs  seemed  to  be  endless,  huge  fallen  trees 
blocked  the  path  at  every  few  hundred  yards, 
and  the  slipperiness  of  the  track  was  too  much 
even  for  my  porters,  who  once  or  twice  came  down 
on  their  knees,  without  actually,  however,  giving 
me  a  fall.  The  belt  fortunately  was  of  no  great 
width,  and  by  eleven  o’clock  we  reached  Ankerama- 
dinika,  a  village  on  its  edge,  and  the  frontier  mili¬ 
tary  post  of  Imerina  proper. 

The  character  of  the  country  now  completely 
changed.  Instead  of  dark  forest,  or  at  best  open 
valleys  bounded  by  ranges  of  hills,  a  rolling  prairie 
lay  before  us,  on  the  waves  of  which  we  could  see 
our  road  stretching  for  miles  ahead ;  while  every 
half-hour  or  so  brought  in  view  some  pretty  hamlet 
of  red-roofed  cottages  in  a  cluster  of  rice-fields. 

On  first  leaving  the  forest,  withered  tree -stems 
were  to  be  seen  standing  in  all  directions,  probably 
the  remains  left  by  some  ancient  fire ;  but  after  a 
few  miles  the  country  became  perfectly  treeless,  and 
except  for  one  or  two  about  the  capital,  I  do  not 
think  that  we  saw  a  tree  until  we  reached  the 


150 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


forest  on  the  western  coast.  Early  in  the  afternoon 
we  passed  through  Ambatomanga,  a  fortified  country 
town  surrounded  by  a  deep  and  wide  ditch.  It 
happened  to  be  market  -  day  at  this  place,  thus 
affording  us  our  first  glimpse  of  a  Hova  crowd  ; 
and  very  picturesque  the  people  looked,  with  their 
broad-brimmed  straw  hats,  and  snow-white  lambas 
thrown  over  their  shoulders  a  V Espagnole — a  strik¬ 
ing  contrast  to  the  half-naked  savages  among  whom 
we  had  been  since  we  left  the  coast. 

After  leaving  this  town  we  got  into  a  more 
rugged  and  barren  country,  here  and  there  rocky 
and  precipitous,  but  mostly  covered  with  poor  short 
grass.  It  so  happened  that  all  the  rest  of  the  party 
had  gone  ahead,  and  Harry  was  some  distance  in 
front  of  me  when  I  noticed  a  wild-looking,  half- 
starved  bullock  grazing  on  the  side  of  the  hill  a 
little  below  our  path.  The  beast,  attracted  by  the 
noise  the  porters  were  making,  looked  up,  snorted, 
and  began  tossing  his  head.  I  knew  at  once  he  was 
preparing  to  charge  Harry’s  party,  who  did  not 
appear  to  notice  him,  and  who,  going  at  a  good 
pace,  soon  turned  a  corner.  The  brute  then  trans¬ 
ferred  his  attentions  to  me.  My  men,  I  saw,  realised 
the  situation,  and  those  running  in  front  slackened 
their  pace  so  as  to  keep  all  together.  The  owner, 
who  was  watching  the  beast,  did  all  he  could  to 
drive  him  down  the  hill,  but  without  any  success  ; 
and  having  been  told  that  whenever  the  porters  get 


A  HOSTILE  BULLOCK. 


151 


into  any  difficulty  their  first  thought  is  to  save 
themselves,  I  quite  expected  to  be  left  in  the  lurch, 
a  prospect  I  did  not  at  all  relish ;  for,  being  the  last 
of  the  party,  there  would  have  been  no  chauce  of 
my  being  picked  up.  However,  I  must  say  on  this 
occasion  they  behaved  very  well,  and  stood  by  me 
until  the  animal  was  a  few  yards  off,  when  I  tried 
the  experiment  of  opening  and  shutting  my  umbrella 
to  try  and  frighten  him  away ;  seeing  which,  one  of 
my  men,  who  evidently  thought  the  idea  a  brilliant 
one,  snatched  it  out  of  my  hand  and  rushed  at  the 
animal,  opening  it  straight  in  his  eyes,  with  the 
desired  effect  of  sending  him  flying,  while  the  rest 
took  to  their  heels  and  ran  for  dear  life  with  me  on 
their  shoulders.  We  soon  caught  up  Harry,  and 
found  him  quite  unconscious  of  what  had  been  going 
on  behind  him. 

Although  the  well-built  stone  houses  and  generally 
prosperous  appearance  of  the  country  through  which 
we  had  passed  during  the  day  had  to  a  certain  extent 
accustomed  our  eyes  again  to  the  aspect  of  civilisa¬ 
tion,  the  first  view  of  the  capital,  which  suddenly 
burst  on  us  as  we  topped  a  ridge,  was  fairly  start¬ 
ling.  The  appearance  of  Antananarivo  would  be 
remarkable  in  any  part  of  the  world,  closely  built 
as  it  is  on  a  long  steep-sided  ridge,  rising  abruptly 
from  a  treeless  undulating  table-land.  Its  church- 
spires,  palaces,  and  red-pointed  gables  are  conspic¬ 
uous  for  miles  round,  and  from  their  prosperous 


152 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


appearance,  and  in  some  cases  pretentious  style  of 
architecture,  would  convey  the  impression  of  an 
important  and  well-built  city  even  in  Europe.  But 
after  a  225 -mile  journey  through  dense  tropical 
forest,  roadless,  almost  trackless,  and  inhabited  only 
by  a  handful  of  half- naked  savages,  the  sudden 
appearance  of  this  towering  evidence  of  civilisation 
almost  takes  away  one’s  breath. 

When  we  first  saw  the  capital  it  was  some  ten 
miles  distant,  and  we  could  easily  have  reached  it 
that  night ;  but  having  only  taken  six  days  on  our 
journey  instead  of  seven,  as  had  been  reckoned,  our 
arrival  would  have  been  unexpected,  and  the  various 
persons  whose  duty  or  pleasure  it  is  to  meet  the 
Resident-General  on  such  occasions  would  have  been 
unable  to  do  so ;  so  Monsieur  de  Vilers  decided  to 
stop  for  the  night  at  Betafo,  a  flourishing  suburb  of 
two-storeyed  brick  villas  in  pretty  gardens,  enclosed 
within  mud  walls,  surmounted  by  a  fence  of  the 
prickly  waxen-flowered  euphorbia.  In  one  of  these 
villas  we  were  entertained  for  the  night  by  a  hospit¬ 
able  Hova,  whose  civilised  surroundinsrs  made  me 
occasionally  wonder  whether  I  was  not  dreaming. 
It  was  so  difficult  to  realise  that,  after  saying  good¬ 
bye  to  the  not  very  advanced  civilisation  of  Tama- 
tave,  and  plunging  into  the  forest,  we  could,  with¬ 
out  having  retraced  our  steps,  be  really  walking  on 
polished  'parquet  floors,  sitting  at  a  large  mahogany 
dinner-table,  or  sleeping  in  a  brass  bedstead  between 


ARRIVAL  AT  THE  CAPITAL. 


153 


clean  sheets.  It  was  almost  with  a  sense  of  lone¬ 
liness  that,  being  awakened  by  the  banging  ot  a 
Venetian  shutter,  I  realised  that  the  door  was  firmly 
shut,  and  that  there  was  not  even  a  litter  of  pigs 
under  my  bed,  or  a  hen  on  the  curtain-rods  above 
it.  However,  I  woke  up  in  the  morning  all  the 
better  for  a  good  night’s  rest,  and  gladly  put  up 
with  the  slisdit  inconvenience  of  not  being;  able  to 
turn  the  contents  of  my  tub  out  of  the  door,  in 
return  for  the  unaccustomed  luxury  of  a  looking- 
glass,  in  which  I  could  see  to  do  my  hair  without 
having  to  emulate  a  professional  contortionist. 

Daylight  showed  that,  in  spite  of  its  luxurious 
accessories,  our  host’s  dwelling  was  not  absolutely 
perfect.  Nothing  in  it  appeared  to  be  finished. 
One  window  in  the  room  was  framed  and  glazed,  the 
other  nailed  up  with  rough  boards ;  part  of  the 
stair -banisters  had  no  top -rail ;  outside,  only  a 
portion  of  the  roof  had  been  tiled ;  and  so  on 
throughout.  I  noticed  this  peculiarity  in  every 
other  Hova  house  which  I  afterwards  saw,  and  was 
told  that  it  was  due  to  a  superstition  that  the 
owner  of  a  house  always  dies  within  a  year  of  its 
completion.  As  they  have  a  rooted  objection  to 
repairing  anything,  combined  with  a  mania  for 
building,  the  result  is  a  great  mass  of  houses  in 
a  state  of  dilapidation. 

Early  in  the  morning  a  mixed  escort  of  French 
and  Hova  officials  arrived  to  welcome  the  Resident- 


154 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


General  and  accompany  him  into  the  capital.  As  it 
was  raining  hard,  and  he  had  to  make  a  detour 
through  the  town,  we  were  advised  to  let  him  start 
ahead ;  so  for  once  we  had  our  early  cup  of  coffee  in 
peace,  and  at  about  half-past  nine  started,  accom¬ 
panied  by  Doctor  Baissade,  for  our  destination. 

A  closer  inspection  of  the  capital  did  not  at  all 
dissipate  the  feeling  of  surprise  which  the  first  view 
of  it  had  caused.  Around  us  were  the  flat  rice-fields 
divided  into  squares  by  narrow  mud-banks,  some 
submerged,  others  a  mass  of  waving  green.  Out 
of  this  chessboard-like  tract,  immediately  in  front 
of  us,  rose  a  long  ridge  some  five  hundred  feet  high, 
thickly  covered  with  pretty  little  red-brick  houses, 
each  apparently  standing  in  its  own  garden ;  spires 
of  half-a-dozen  churches  cut  the  sky-line ;  while  to 
the  left,  on  the  highest  part  of  the  ridge,  were  two 
huge  square  white  palaces. 

From  its  situation  and  its  incongruity  with  its 
surroundings,  Antananarivo  is  undoubtedly  a  re¬ 
markable  sight,  viewed  from  the  plain ;  but  there 
is  nothing  imposing  about  it.  The  architecture  is 
of  too  toy -house  and  cockney  an  order,  and  its 
whole  aspect  violates  the  first  principle  of  art, 
that  of  putting  the  right  thing  in  the  right  place. 
At  Sydenham,  Charlottenburg,  or  Saint  Cloud,  it 
would  have  been  a  picturesque  object ;  in  the  midst 
of  the  great  African  island  its  effect  was  almost 
ridiculous. 


ENTERING  THE  CAPITAL. 


155 


While  I  was  thinking  of  all  this,  its  incongruity 
with  its  surroundings  was  sharply  brought  to  my 
notice  by  a  splash  and  a  sudden  bump,  both  due  to 
the  remarkable  thoroughfare  by  which  alone  the 
metropolis  can  be  reached.  This  consists  of  a  track 
slightly  raised  in  the  centre,  some  fifteen  inches 
wide,  and  occupying  the  whole  ridge  of  one  of  the 
little  mud  -  banks  already  mentioned.  With  the 
ground  as  wet  as  it  was,  I  am  not  at  all  sure  if 
I  could  have  walked  along  it  alone ;  but  the  extra¬ 
ordinary  feats  that  my  bearers  had  performed  in 
this  way,  made  me  take  it  as  a  matter  of  course  that 
they  would  run  along  it,  leaning  outwards  like  a 
V.  Perhaps  the  excitement  of  nearing  the  capital 
was  too  much  for  them,  but  whatever  the  cause,  the 
two  “  wheelers  ”  suddenly  slipped,  and,  gliding  into 
the  neighbouring  rice-fields,  left  me  sitting — feet  in 
air — on  the  ground.  It  was  a  good  job  it  was  not 
the  “leaders”  who  had  slipped,  or  I  should  probably 
have  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  whether  I  admired 
the  capital  more  in  an  inverted  position. 

The  part  of  the  ridge  for  which  we  made  is  as¬ 
cended  by  a  narrow  path  cut  out  of  the  solid  rock, 
and  polished  by  centuries  of  barefooted  traffic.  No 
attempt  has  been  made,  by  zigzags  or  other  devices, 
to  lessen  the  incline,  and  it  would  have  been  a 
steepish  climb  even  had  the  road  afforded  good  foot¬ 
hold  :  as  it  was,  I  should  think  it  absolutely  impass¬ 
able  to  any  one  wearing  boots.  Our  porters,  how- 


156 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


ever,  seemed  to  think  nothing  of  it,  but  running  at 
top  speed,  shouting  all  the  time  to  clear  the  way,  they 
soon  reached  Ambohimitsimbina,  the  highest  quarter 
of  the  town  ;  then  turning  to  the  right,  entered  the 
main  street,  which  runs  along  the  summit  of  the 
ridge,  occasionally  turning  towards  the  western  and 
steeper  side,  where  it  overhangs  the  precipice,  sup¬ 
ported  on  a  rough  stone  embankment.  After  passing- 
through  the  town  we  left  this,  and  entering  a  narrow 
street,  suddenly  stopped  before  the  big  iron  gateway 
which  marks  the  entrance  to  the  French  Residency. 
Passing  through  this,  we  found  ourselves  on  a  well- 
kept  lawn,  bounded  on  the  right  by  a  substantial 
two-storeyed  red-brick  house,  and  commanding  on 
the  left  a  fine  view  of  the  western  slope  of  the 
town.  Viewed  from  the  east,  the  ridge  seems 
nearly  straight,  but  it  is  in  fact  kidney -shaped, 
and  it  is  on  the  lower  or  north-western  projection 
that  the  Residency  is  built,  thus  affording  a  view 
of  the  whole  of  its  one  face,  and  the  upper  or 
southern  projection  of  Tamponbohitra,  on  which 
are  the  two  royal  palaces.  From  the  rugged  nature 
of  the  ground,  this  face  of  the  ridge  is  much  more 
imposing  in  appearance  than  that  first  seen  on  ap¬ 
proaching  the  capital  from  the  east.  Part  of  it  is 
a  sheer  precipice,  in  places  overhanging  the  plain, 
and  in  all  parts  broken  by  great  granite  masses, 
giving  fine  effects  of  light  and  shade.  Like  the 
eastern  slope,  however,  its  rugged  beauty  has  been 


QUEEN’S  SUMMER  PALACE.  {From  Drawing  by  a  Native  Artist.) 


THE  CORONATION  GROUND. 


157 


as  far  as  possible  marred  by  the  efforts  of  man. 
The  same  pretty  little  suburban  villas,  with  the 
surrounding  walled  enclosures,  are  crammed  into 
every  possible  site,  and  in  some  places  —  with 
great  ingenuity  and  at  an  immense  expenditure 
of  labour  in  excavation,  and  building  terraces  for 
their  support — are  balanced  on  the  most  impracti¬ 
cable  and  rocky  escarpments. 

Immediately  below  the  Residency  garden  to  the 
west  is  a  laro-e  sheet  of  water — I  believe  artificial — 

O 

with  an  island  in  the  centre ;  in  the  distance  a  long 
range  of  purple,  cloud  -  capped  hills ;  and  in  the 
middle  distance,  partly  hemmed  in  by  a  low  range 
of  hills,  the  Kabary  plain,  used  as  a  parade-ground 
and  place  of  assemblage  on  fete  days,  and  the 
meeting-place  of  the  Queen  and  her  people  on  all 
occasions  when  she  wishes  to  communicate  with 
them  en  masse.  Here  the  Sovereigns  are  crowned, 
and  standing  in  the  centre  of  the  natural  amphi¬ 
theatre,  on  a  flat-topped  rock  known  as  the  Sacred 
Stone,  receive  the  first  greetings  of  their  assembled 
subjects.  Here  also,  after  her  annual  visit  to  the 
summer  palace  of  Ambohimanga,  the  Queen  halts 
with  her  escort  of  two  thousand  troops,  and  is 
received  by  the  Court  officials  and  inhabitants  of 
the  city. 

One  afternoon  I  was  asked  by  Doctor  Baissade 
to  go  down  there  and  see  a  native  fete  which  was 
then  taking  place ;  but  feeling  rather  lazy,  I  de- 


158 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


clinecl.  On  his  return  lie  said  that  it  was  as  well 
that  I  had  done  so,  as  the  exhibition  of  mceurs 
Malgaches  which  he  had  witnessed  had  been  wholly 
unfit  for  my  close  inspection. 

On  the  southern  edge  of  the  Kabary  ground,  and 
forming  a  link  between  its  western  bank  and  the 
ridge  of  Antananarivo,  is  a  curious  mound,  tumulus¬ 
shaped,  but  some  three  hundred  feet  high,  down 
the  sides  of  which  run  straight  steep-sided  trenches 
about  ten  feet  deep  by  ten  feet  wide,  radiating  from 
the  summit  like  the  spokes  of  a  wheel.  No  one 
could  tell  me  why  or  when  they  had  been  dug,  nor 
could  my  imagination  make  up  for  the  lack  of 
information. 

At  the  northern  end  of  the  lawn,  and  a  little  be¬ 
low  it,  were  the  barracks  of  the  Resident-General’s 
escort,  composed  of  two  officers  and  fifty  men  of  the 
Infanterie  de  Marine,  for  whose  presence,  as  a  pre¬ 
cautionary  measure,  he  had  obtained  the  sanction 
of  the  Malagasy  Government.  On  another  day  we 
visited  these  barracks,  which  were  particularly  well 
arranged  and  kept ;  and  both  officers  and  men 
seemed  thoroughly  satisfied  with  their  quarters, 
and  content  to  be  counting  foreign  service  in  such 
a  pleasant  and  healthy  locality.  I  do  not  know  how 
often  they  are  changed,  but  I  should  imagine  not 
very  frequently ;  for  as  each  man  has  to  be  carried 
up  from  the  coast  in  a  filanzana  with  twelve  bearers, 
the  conveyance  must  be  rather  a  costly  matter. 


INTERIOR  OF  FRENCH  RESIDENCY. 


159 


Crossing  the  lawn,  we  were  received  by  Monsieur 
de  Tilers,  who  came  out  to  meet  us,  and  at  once 
took  us  in  to  breakfast. 

Luckily  I  had  been  partly  broken  in  to  civilisa¬ 
tion  by  the  experiences  of  the  previous  night,  or 
the  interior  of  the  Residency  would  quite  have  per¬ 
suaded  me  that  I  was  dreaming.  As  a  rule,  even 
in  the  most  luxurious  colonial  private  houses  and 
Government  buildings  there  is  a  certain  roughness 
and  want  of  finish,  which,  however  comfortable  the 
rooms  may  be,  afford  unmistakable  evidence  that 
one  is  out  of  Europe.  Here,  the  outer  door  once 
closed,  I  felt  that  I  had  stepped  into  France.  Fur¬ 
niture,  decoration,  books,  draperies,  pictures,  all 
spelt  out  “Paris”  as  plainly  as  if  the  maker’s  label 
had  been  attached  to  each ;  yet,  oddly  enough, 
Monsieur  de  Tilers  told  me  that  all  the  wood-carv¬ 
ing  and  decoration  had  been  carried  out  by  Hova 
workmen.  The  rooms  themselves  were  large  and 
well  proportioned,  and  though  evidently  designed 
and  decorated  with  a  view  to  impress  the  native 
mind  with  the  resources  of  French  civilisation,  were 
both  cool  and  comfortable.  Nevertheless  we  were 
not  sorry  to  hear  that  we  were  to  be  lodged  in  a 
humbler  abode,  the  little  cottage  just  over  the  way, 
occupied  by  Monsieur  d’Anthouard,  where  Monsieur 
de  Tilers  thought  we  should  be  more  independent 
and  undisturbed.  Accordingly  after  breakfast  we 
strolled  across,  and  were  received  by  a  tidy  cheer- 


160 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


ful- looking  woman  with  rather  a  dark  skin,  jet- 
black  hair  tightly  plaited  round  her  head,  wearing 
a  cotton  skirt,  and  a  Jamba,  over  her  shoulders. 


Our  Alalagasy  landlady. 


Both  she  and  her  husband,  the  proprietor  of  the 
house,  were  high-born  Hovas ;  but  we  found  him 
in  their  little  back -kitchen  working  at  his  trade, 


RECEPTION  OF  THE  RESIDENT. 


161 


that  of  a  tailor,  which  he  plied  when  not  engaged 
in  his  duties  as  an  officer  of  several  “honours”  in 
the  Regiment  of  the  Royal  Guard.  It  is  only  by 
the  number  of  these  honours  that  the  different 
Grades  of  officers  and  non-commissioned  officers  are 

O 

distinguished.  I  forget  the  exact  equivalent  to  our 
ranks ;  but  assuming  that  a  corporal  is  an  officer  of 
one  honour,  a  sergeant  of  two,  a  lieutenant  would 
be  four,  a  lieutenant-colonel  seven,  and  so  on. 

We  were  shown  into  two  very  clean  and  cheerful- 
looking  rooms  on  the  first  floor,  opening  on  to  a  bal¬ 
cony  to  the  east;  and  here,  after  all  the  jolting  of 
the  past  wreek,  we  were  very  glad  to  rest  till  late 
in  the  afternoon.  When  returning  to  the  Residency, 
wre  found  the  whole  lawn  occupied  by  a  motley 
crowd  of  natives  of  all  sorts,  conditions,  sexes,  and 
ages  —  all  dressed  in  white  lambas  and  broad- 
brimmed  straw  hats,  and  all  squatting  on  the 
ground.  Wondering  what  on  earth  they  could 
have  come  for,  we  picked  our  way  through  them 
to  the  entrance-door,  at  which  Monsieur  de  Yilers 
was  standing.  He  told  us  with  a  grim  smile  that 
they  had  come  to  welcome  him  and  offer  him  gifts, 
— in  other  words,  to  play  again  the  good  old  game 
of  trying  to  get  a  penny  bun  for  a  halfpenny. 
The  gifts  consisted  of  fowls,  eggs,  bits  of  cloth, 
straw  hats,  and  baskets,  &c.,  for  none  of  which 
Monsieur  de  Afilers  had  the  slightest  need,  and 
which,  from  the  overwhelming  quantities  in  which 


162 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


they  were  poured  in,  were  a  positive  nuisance,  but 
for  which  he  had,  nevertheless,  to  give  in  exchange 
portions  of  that  very  useful  commodity,  the  five- 
franc  piece.  One  or  two,  in  addition  to  the  so- 
called  presents,  had  goods  which  they  offered  for 
sale.  One  was  unsuccessful  in  persuading  us  to 
buy  a  cage  full  of  lemurs — uninteresting  little  ani¬ 
mals,  whose  sole  claim  to  notice  lies  in  their  being 
the  only  indigenous  quadruped  of  Madagascar.  With 
another,  who  had  a  really  beautiful  collection  of 
silk  lambas,  we  did  some  business,  and,  at  prices 
ranging  from  £1,  10s.  to  £2,  bought  some  very 
handsome  strips  of  pure,  thick,  white-flowered  silk, 
about  three  yards  wide  by  four  or  five  yards  long ; 
also  others  of  equally  good  design  in  which  the  silk 
was  mixed  with  palm-fibre.  The  Hovas  appear  to 
be  excellent  workmen,  but  have  unfortunately  no 
inventive  faculty,  and  I  was  told  that  these  designs 
were  imported  from  Europe ;  and  indeed  I  never 
saw  anything  in  the  country  which  had  any  beauty 
beyond  that  of  the  excellence  of  its  workmanship. 
We  had  a  great  rummage  one  day  through  the 
market  and  all  the  shops  wTe  could  find,  but  the 
only  things  that  at  all  took  our  fancy  were  the 
straw  hats,  and  some  snuff-boxes  made  of  polished 
bamboo  plugged  at  the  ends  by  bits  of  pumpkin- 
rind. 

Probably  the  Malagasy  mind  does  not  naturally 
tend  towards  decorative  art ;  but  I  cannot  believe 


SHOPPING  IN  ANTANANARIVO. 


163 


that  such  good  workmen  would  not  turn  out  more 
objects  of  art  than  they  do,  did  they  receive  any 
encouragement.  The  corvee  system,  however,  en¬ 
forced  on  all  grades  of  society,  has  exactly  the 
opposite  effect,  and  makes  all  classes  afraid  of 
letting  their  proficiency  become  known,  for  fear 
of  being  impressed  for  compulsory  unpaid  labour. 
Theoretically,  everybody  in  the  island  is  the  private 
property  of  the  Sovereign,  and  consequently  their 
labour  and  produce  are  hers  also.  This  in  itself 
would  probably  work  no  great  harm,  were  it  not 
for  the  power  to  transfer  her  rights — the  exercise 
of  which  power  leads  each  grade  to  demand,  in 
the  Queen’s  name,  free  labour  from  that  below  it, 
with  the  result  that  the  chief  desire  of  each  section 
of  the  community  is  to  induce  its  superiors  to  believe 
that  it  is  absolutely  useless  and  incapable. 

In  a  way,  the  absence  of  tempting  things  to  buy 
was  rather  a  comfort,  for  we  got  hauled  over  the 
coals  for  our  little  shopping  expedition  on  foot, 
which  we  were  told  was  a  most  undignified  pro¬ 
ceeding  for  a'  European  or  well-born  native — our 
guardsman-tailor-landlord  would  never  have  dreamt 
of  such  a  thing ;  and  shopping  from  a  jilanzana  is 
such  a  complicated  operation,  that  it  takes  away  all 
the  charm.  The  process  must  be  rather  like  shop¬ 
ping  on  elephant -back,  if  such  a  thing  is  done 
anywhere,  as  in  each  case  the  same  business  has 
to  be  gone  through  of  lowering  the  carriage  to 


164 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


the  ground,  before  its  occupant  can  get  out  of  it. 
The  Hova  objection  to  walking  was  certainly  ac¬ 
counted  for  by  the  condition  of  the  streets,  which 
were  more  like  the  beds  of  mountain  torrents  than 
anything  else,  and  in  many  places  almost  impassable, 
except  to  the  barefooted  natives.  Nor  was  passing 
through  them  in  a  filanzana  an  unmixed  pleasure  at 
this  season,  owing  to  the  occupation  of  the  town  by 
herds  of  loose  bulls,  which  had  been  driven  in  from 
all  parts  of  the  country  as  offerings  to  the  Queen, 
at  the  approaching  festival  of  the  Fondroana,  but 
which  for  two  or  three  days  prior  to  the  feast  were 
apparently  allowed  to  devote  their  whole  energies  to 
the  work  of  reducing  the  population. 

I  had  an  opportunity  of  studying  this  phase  of 
Malagasy  life  the  first  time  we  went  out  in  our 
filanzanas.  We  were  passing  down  a  steep  and 
very  narrow  street  leading  out  of  the  market-place, 
when  we  heard  shouts  behind  us,  of  which  my 
porters  evidently  understood  the  meaning,  for  with 
one  bound  they  landed  me  over  a  low  wall  into  a 
small  courtyard.  As  soon  as  I  had  recovered  my 
surprise  I  looked  round,  and  saw  that  Monsieur 
d’Anthouard  had  jumped  off,  and  with  his  bearers 
had  squeezed  into  a  doorway ;  while  Harry’s  men, 
whom  he  had  somehow  got  into  the  habit  of  only 
doing  what  they  were  told,  were  standing,  with  him 
on  their  shoulders,  in  the  street,  down  which  rushed 
a  shouting  crowd  chased  by  two  enormous  hump- 


A  CHARGE  OF  BULLS. 


165 


backed  bulls,  charging  in  all  directions,  and  driven 
perfectly  wild  by  another  crowd  behind  them,  shout¬ 
ing  even  louder  than  the  first,  and  pelting  the 
beasts  with  any  missiles  that  came  to  hand. 

The  next  day,  the  town  being  still  given  over  to 
the  bulls,  Monsieur  d’Anthouard  took  us  to  see  the 
country-place  of  the  Jesuit  mission ;  so  getting  out 
of  the  town  by  the  nearest  way,  we  crossed  the  rice- 
fields  and  the  ridge  beyond  them  to  the  east,  and 
after  about  three-quarters  of  an  hour’s  journey  found 
ourselves  outside  a  fine  country-house,  approached 
by  an  avenue  of  mango-trees,  and  situated  in  a  good 
large  garden  bordered  by  the  Ikopo  river.  We 
were  received  by  two  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  who 
showed  us  over  the  grounds  and  buildings.  Every¬ 
thing  was  thoroughly  simple  and  well  kept ;  but 
the  points  which  most  interested  me  were  the 
workshops  and  mausoleum — the  former  as  showing 
the  practical  nature  of  the  training  given  to  the 
converts,  and  the  latter  the  Fathers’  complete  dis¬ 
regard  of  death.  In  each  of  the  workshops  was  one 
of  them,  bare-armed  and  coatless,  surrounded  by  a 
group  of  natives,  who  were  helping  or  watching  him 
make  a  chair,  a  sauce-pan,  or  a  pickaxe,  according 
to  his  trade.  Others  were  working  in  the  garden  or 
fields :  and  at  the  time  of  our  visit,  at  all  events, 
doctrinal  teaching  seemed  to  be  the  last  thing  in 
the  minds  of  all.  The  mausoleum  was  a  handsome 
building  entered  by  an  open-work  iron  gateway, 


166 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


made  on  the  premises,  round  the  interior  of  which 
were  arranged  rows  of  pigeon-holes,  some  closed  and 
inscribed  with  a  name  and  two  dates — some  of 
which  showed  that  ripe  old  age  was  attained  here 
— others  still  open,  and  uninscribed.  On  none  of 
these  were  any  written  expression  of  regret,  or  hints 
as  to  the  character  or  history  of  the  person  whose 
body  lay  behind  the  plain  iron  door.  Pointing  to 
an  uninscribed  niche  in  the  right-hand  corner,  our 
guide  laughingly  told  us  that  it  was  the  recess 
reserved  for  himself.  Custom,  of  course,  made  us 
assume  a  more  subdued  manner  while  in  this  house 
of  the  dead  ;  but  our  guide,  on  the  contrary,  con¬ 
tinued  to  talk  in  his  liveliest  tone,  evidently  fully 
imbued  with  the  conviction — singularly  rare  among 
Christians — that  death  is  only  important  as  being  a 
change  for  the  better. 

On  our  way  home  we  were  twice  reminded  of  the 
approaching  Fondroana  :  first,  bypassing  a  number 
of  men  carrying  great  fagots  of  dried  wood — these, 
I  was  told,  were  slaves  who,  having  no  property  of 
their  own,  were  allowed  to  collect  wood  and  present 
it  to  the  Queen  in  token  of  subjection  ;  secondly,  by 
the  much  more  objectionable  offerings  of  the  free 
men.  We  had  arrived  within  fifty  yards  of  the 
Residency  gate  without  meeting  any  of  these,  my 
betes  noires,  as  I  may  literally  call  them,  and  I  was 
duly  congratulating  myself  on  the  fact,  when,  turn¬ 
ing  a  corner,  I  found  that  the  road  was  blocked  by 


THE  BULLS  AGAIN. 


167 


a  crowd,  and,  looking  over  their  heads,  saw  a  great 
bull  standing  in  the  gateway,  foaming  at  the  mouth, 
and  bellowing  with  all  his  might.  We  had  to  halt 
for  some  little  time  while  he  made  up  his  mind  as 
to  his  next  move ;  which  done,  he  suddenly  charged 
into  the  crowd,  scattering  them  in  all  directions. 
Luckily  he  went  off  the  opposite  way  to  that  in 
which  we  were  coming,  so  we  were  able  to  slip 
into  the  Residency  without  further  adventures. 

I  was  told  this  was  the  last  occasion  on  which  I 
should  be  likely  to  encounter  these  beasts  singly  in 
the  streets ;  but  that  on  the  next  day  I  should  see, 
from  a  safe  place,  a  remarkable  sight,  the  whole 
collection  of  them  streaming  through  the  town  in 
a  body.  On  the  following  mid-day  we  accordingly 
went  to  the  house  of  a  Frenchman  who  had  started 
a  silk  manufactory,  and  wdiose  balcony  overlooked 
the  Andohalo  square,  a  large  open  space  in  the 
centre  of  the  town,  the  middle  of  which  was  now 
densely  crowded  with  men  and  boys,  while  round 
its  edges  were  erected  a  number  of  booths,  be¬ 
yond  which  again  every  safe  nook  and  corner  was 
crammed  with  women  and  children.  All  this  ex¬ 
citement  was  due  to  the  fact  that  the  bulls  were 
about  to  be  let  loose  from  the  palace-yard.  After 
being  fattened  for  some  weeks  in  small  backyards, 
where  they  have  hardly  room  to  move,  they  are 
driven — as  I  had  already  experienced — with  great 
difficulty  into  the  courtyard  of  the  Palace,  where 


168 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


they  are  penned,  until  on  the  day  of  the  Fondroana 
the  Queen  receives  them  as  an  offering  from  her 
subjects.  This  ceremony  over,  the  beasts  are  let 
loose,  and  become  the  property  of  whoever  can 
catch  them. 

Soon  after  twelve  the  excitement  began.  First 
one  bull  came  dashing  down  the  narrow  street  into 
the  square,  followed  by  his  rightful  owner,  and  a 
crowd  of  men  and  boys  all  equally  anxious  to  secure 
the  prize  ;  then  at  short  intervals  came  another  and 
another,  then  half-a-dozen  abreast,  driving  every¬ 
thing  before  them.  Soon  the  square  was  full  of 
beasts  charging  in  all  directions,  foaming,  roaring, 
and  panting,  amid  shouts  and  showers  of  sticks  and 
stones  from  men  and  boys,  until  some  of  the  poor 
beasts  dropped  down  dead  from  sheer  exhaustion. 
It  was  a  cruel  and  disgusting  sight,  a  sort  of  very 
feeble  imitation  of  a  Spanish  bull-fight  without  any 
of  its  pomp. 

Harry  went  down  into  the  square  and  photo¬ 
graphed  a  bull  just  as  it  was  charging  at  him : 
unfortunately  this  negative,  together  with  nearly 
all  those  we  took  in  Madagascar,  got  ruined  by  the 
damp.  However,  if  he  did  not  get  his  negative, 
he  had  a  little  excitement,  which  always  does  him 
good ;  while  I  only  had  a  very  unjdeasant  five 
minutes,  expecting  every  moment  to  see  him  gored. 
As  it  happened,  after  he  had  jumped  out  of  the 
bull’s  way,  the  beast  rushed  at  a  boy  just  behind 


ANDOHALO  SQUARE,  ANTANANARIVO. 


THE  BULLS  LET  LOOSE. 


169 


him,  and  sending  his  horn  right  into  his  eye, 
dragged  it  out.  The  hoy,  like  a  madman,  got  up 
and  went  straight  at  the  next  beast.  Luckily  he 
was  only  knocked  over,  and  was  dragged  from  the 
scene  by  his  friends. 

I  soon  got  very  tired  of  this  feeble  and  disgust¬ 
ing  sight ;  but  as  it  was  not  thought  safe  to  go 
through  the  town  until  all  the  animals  had  been 
driven  out  of  the  place,  I  had  to  wait.  One  slight 
variation  to  the  scene  was  afforded  during  the  after¬ 
noon.  Suddenly  the  bulls  were  left  to  themselves, 
and  the  whole  crowd  rushed  to  one  of  the  booths, 
from  which  a  man  was  dragged  by  every  limb  in 
such  a  way  that  I  was  expecting  at  any  moment 
to  see  him  torn  in  pieces :  by  the  time  he  reached 
the  middle  of  the  square  every  stitch  of  clothing 
had  been  torn  off  his  back,  and  in  this  state  he  was 
conducted  to  the  Palace.  It  turned  out  that  he 
had  stolen  some  goods  from  one  of  the  booths,  and 
was  being  taken  to  the  Palace  for  judgment. 

On  our  way  home  we  were  treated  to  a  little 
surprise,  which  to  my  uninstructed  mind  seemed 
as  if  it  should  have  been  our  last.  Under  some 
fig-trees,  in  a  part  of  the  road  which  overhangs 
the  western  cliff,  are  a  row  of  rusty  old  cannon 
lying  on  the  ground  with  their  muzzles  over  the 
precipice,  exposed  to  all  weathers,  and  apparently 
wholly  uncared  for.  I  had  often  passed  them  on 
my  way  through  the  town,  but  had  never  suspected 


170 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


that  any  sane  human  being  would  try  to  let  them 
off.  What  was  my  horror,  then,  to  find  myself 
jammed  in  a  crowd  in  the  midst  of  them,  while  a 
man  ran  from  one  to  the  other  with  a  lighted  piece 
of  tow.  First  one  a  dozen  yards  to  my  left  went 
off  successfully ;  then  the  next  gave  a  fizz,  and 
nothing  else  happened ;  then  came  the  turn  of  the 
one  behind  which  I  was  standing,  and  I  fervently 
prayed  that  it  also  might  miss  fire,  but  no  such 
luck !  Off  it  went  with  a  bang,  jumping  back 
almost  on  to  the  toes  of  my  bearers,  but  to 
my  great  surprise  doing  no  damage  ;  and  so 
on  down  the  whole  row — none  of  them  bursting, 
thanks  to  the  special  providence  which  watches 
over  idiots. 

The  live  bulls  had  been  bad  enough,  but  I  am  not 
sure  that  I  should  not  have  preferred  meeting  them 
again,  with  all  their  superfluous  energy,  to  seeing 
and  smelling  them  in  the  'post-mortem  condition  in 
which  they  came  so  painfully  to  the  front  during 
the  next  few  days.  For  the  previous  forty-eight 
hours  abstinence  from  meat  had  been  enforced 
throughout  the  town  ;  but  the  ceremony  of  the 
royal  gift  over,  the  inhabitants  made  up  for  their 
fast  by  a  wholesale  slaughter,  with  the  result  that 
the  whole  town  reeked  of  blood,  while  at  every 
step  one  ran  into  men  carrying  great  hunks  of 
raw  meat,  presents,  “with  the  compliments  of  the 
season,”  from  her  Majesty  to  her  faithful  subjects. 


THE  FEAST  OF  THE  BATH. 


171 


We  were  favoured  with  one  of  these  joints,  which 
was  loyally  devoured  by  our  porters. 

The  next  day  was  that  of  the  much-talked-of  Feast 
of  the  Bath,  during  which  the  Queen  is  supposed  to 
bathe  in  the  presence  of  her  people.  Having  received 
an  invitation  to  this,  we  mounted  our  flanzanas 
after  an  early  dinner,  and  at  about  seven  in  the 
evening  alio-hted  at  the  bio-  o-ate  of  the  Tranovola, 
or  Silver  Palace,  where  a  crowd  was  collected  to 
see  the  arrival  of  the  guests.  Passing  through 
the  guard  of  honour,  we  crossed  a  wide  court¬ 
yard,  lit  with  many  Chinese  lanterns,  and  entered 
the  antechamber,  a  room  about  thirty  feet  scpiare, 
whose  ceiling  was  supported  by  a  single  column  in 
the  centre.  On  a  circular  table  round  this  column 
were  laid  out  the  presents  which  the  Queen  had 
received  on  this  and  former  similar  occasions.  Not 
a  very  valuable  collection,  mostly  of  European  or 
rather  Palais  Royal  origin — a  clock  with  a  china 
figure  swinging  as  a  pendulum,  ormolu  inkstands, 
highly  coloured  bonbonnieres,  and  paper-weights. 
Birds,  beasts,  and  fishes  were  there  in  every  ma¬ 
terial  except  flesh  and  blood,  and  applied  to  every 
use  except  those  for  which  nature  constructed  their 
prototypes.  The  walls  of  the  room  were  covered 
for  about  two-thirds  of  their  height  with  a  coloured 
paper  representing  scenes  in  the  Crimean  war ;  above 
this  was  a  strip  of  hideous  red-patterned  paper,  then 
a  frieze  of  a  very  large  conventional  pattern  in  good 


172 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


colouring.  Four  curious  pictures — the  product  evi¬ 
dently  of  native  art — were  hung,  one  in  the  centre 
of  each  wall,  representing  a  very  conventional  town, 
with  a  king  and  queen  on  either  side  sitting  under 
a  more  than  conventional  palm-tree,  upon  which 
was  perched  the  royal  falcon  of  Madagascar.  In 
one  of  these  pictures  the  palm  grows  out  of  the 
back  of  an  eight  -  winged  armadillo,  or  crocodile 
without  a  tail. 

In  this  room  all  the  guests  were  assembled,  wait¬ 
ing  to  be  admitted  into  the  Royal  presence.  The 
English  contingent  was  represented  by  the  Vice- 
Consul — Mr  Pickersgill — Bishop  Cornish,  a  good 
number  of  missionaries,  and  the  Englishmen  in  the 
Queen’s  employ,  as  well  as  their  wives.  Another 
group  was  formed  by  the  French  in  a  different  part 
of  the  room.  The  native  guests  completed  the 
assemblage,  most  of  them  dressed  in  uniform.  I 
heard  one  of  them  asking  the  Resident-General  who 
we  were.  They  could  not  make  out  why,  being 
English,  we  should  be  the  guests  of  the  French — it 
being  pretty  well  known  that  there  was  but  little 
love  lost  between  the  French  and  English  communi¬ 
ties  in  the  capital. 

After  waiting  some  time,  an  officer  in  uniform 
came  and  announced  that  the  Queen  was  ready  to 
receive  us ;  so  again  crossing  the  courtyard,  we  soon 
entered  the  big  archway  of  Manjakamiadana,  or  the 
Gold  Palace,  through  which  we  passed  to  the  door 


THE  PRIME  MINISTER, 


173 


of  the  throne  -  room,  where  Ravoninahitraniorivo, 
Prime  Minister,  Prince  Consort,  and  Commander-in- 
Chief,  was  standing.  He  is  a  short,  well-built  man, 
rather  dark  for  a  Hova,  with  a  large  moustache,  dark 
piercing  eyes,  and  low  forehead.  He  was  dressed  in 
a  patrol  jacket  and  trousers  made  of  fawn-coloured 
silk,  with  a  silver  embroidered  sword  -  belt,  all  of 
native  manufacture.  Pound  his  neck  was  the 
“  Legion  of  Honour,”  and  on  his  breast  were  several 
foreign  decorations.  He  is  said  to  be  sixty-two,  but 
looks  about  thirty-five — and  no  wonder ;  for  when 
afterwards  we  were  presented  to  him,  I  saw  that  his 
hair  and  moustache  were  dyed,  and  that  altogether 
his  face  was  very  cleverly  made  up.  After  bowing 
to  him,  we  all  passed  on  to  the  centre  of  the  room, 
which  was  divided  off  by  red  stanchions  and  ropes  a 
la  Buckingham  Palace  on  Drawing-room  days,  and 
were  led  to  the  part  reserved  for  foreign  visitors, 
facing  the  throne.  Harry  and  I  were  between  Mon¬ 
sieur  de  Vilers  and  the  English  Vice-Consul,  who 
seemed  to  be  the  honoured  guests.  The  room  was 
eighty  feet  square,  and,  like  the  first,  had  a  big  pillar 
in  the  centre,  with  more  rubbishy  presents  arranged 
round  it.  In  the  corner  of  the  room  behind  us  was 
the  Queen’s  red  velvet  chaise-a-porteurs ,  a  great 
heavy  unwieldy -looking  thing  that  must  be  very 
inconvenient  for  the  men  to  carry  across  country. 
Just  on  our  right  was  a  group  of  native  Methodists 
squatting  on  mats.  Between  them  and  the  throne 


174 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


were  the  Queen’s  female  relations  and  ladies  of  the 
Court — most  of  them  young,  and  some  almost  pretty 


Malagasy  Princesses. 

— also  sitting  on  the  floor.  The  part  of  the  room 


THE  QUEEN. 


175 


between  the  throne  and  the  door  was  railed  off  for 
the  native  officials,  leaving  a  passage  between  them 
and  us,  which  was  lined  with  the  gentlemen-at-arms. 
The  latter  wore  an  extraordinary  jumble  of  different 
uniforms,  red  English  infantry  tunics  with  yellow 
facings,  French  sailors’  peaked  caps  with  gold  bands 
— some  with  anchors,  some  with  crowns,  and  one  with 
an  eagle.  Shoes  were  as  varied,  but  the  favourite 
kind  seemed  to  be  the  canvas  tennis-shoe  with  black 
india-rubber  soles  and  toecaps.  Swords  and  sword- 
belts  were  also  of  every  variety  of  pattern. 

The  throne,  with  its  three  steps  covered  with  crim¬ 
son  velvet,  on  which  the  Queen  was  seated  in  an 
elaborately  gilt  arm-chair,  had  over  it,  flat  against 
the  wall,  an  arch  of  trumpery  leaves  and  white  paper 
roses  resting  upon  pillars  of  repousse  silver.  The 
Queen  wras  attired  in  a  crimson  velvet  dress,  the 
train  being  the  only  part  we  saw,  as  she  was  entirely 
wrapped  up  in  a  red  lamba.  On  her  head  was  a 
gold-embroidered  coronet.  She  has  regular  features 
and  very  good  teeth,  and  would  probably  look  pretty 
were  she  not  so  sallow.  Her  shiny  black  hair  was 
plaited  and  done  up  in  a  knob.  She  sat  there  look¬ 
ing  round  her  in  a  bored  and  listless  way ;  the  face 
showing  no  strength  of  character,  and  seeming  more 
than  twenty-five,  which  I  am  told  is  her  age.  Hav¬ 
ing  seen  the  guests  in,  the  Prime  Minister  took  up  a 
position  on  the  steps  of  the  throne,  but  did  not  stay 
there  long,  as  half  the  time  he  was  fidgeting  about, 


176 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


seeing  that  everything  had  been  properly  prepared 
in  that  part  of  the  room  railed  off  for  the  native 
guests. 

As  soon  as  we  had  all  settled  into  our  places  the 
ceremony  began,  and  a  more  extraordinary  jumble 
I  have  never  witnessed.  First  came  a  string  of 
men-slaves  carrying  the  different  things  needed  for 
making  a  fire  and  for  cooking  purposes.  Each  in 
turn  walked  up  to  within  a  certain  distance  of 
the  throne,  bowed  low,  at  the  same  time  raising- 
above  his  head  whatever  he  was  carrying.  He  then 
backed  into  the  roped-off  enclosure  and  deposited 
his  burden.  In  the  middle  of  this  enclosure  two 
square  slabs  had  been  laid,  with  bricks  in  the  centre 
of  each ;  on  these  fires  were  lit,  reminding  one  of 
a  gipsy  camp.  A  big,  fat,  good  -  natured  -  looking- 
native,  dressed  something  like  a  French  cook,  who 
superintended  the  culinary  proceedings,  turned  out 
to  be  one  of  the  Queen’s  Ministers,  who  had  for 
some  years  lived  in  Paris.  Two  enormous  pots  that 
had  been  used  during  several  reigns  on  these  solemn 
occasions  were  then  placed  on  the  tripods  over  the 
fires.  Water  was  brought,  which  the  ex-Minister 
poured  into  the  pots,  then  filled  one  up  with  rice, 
spooning  it  with  a  big  wooden  ladle  out  of  a  bag- 
held  by  a  slave.  In  the  other  he  put  some  meat 
which  had  been  kept  from  the  year  before  as  an 
emblem  of  plenty,  and  which,  as  may  be  imagined, 
was  fairly  high.  While  all  this  was  being  cooked, 


BATHING  THE  QUEEN. 


177 


slaves  brought  banana-leaves,  which  were  given  to 
some  of  the  women,  who  cut  them  up,  making  fans 
to  blow  the  fires,  and  square  bits,  with  two  of  the 
corners  pinned  together,  to  use  as  spoons. 

The  time  for  the  bath  had  come.  A  large  sheet 
was  stretched  and  held  by  three  women  at  the 
corner  of  the  room  nearest  the  throne.  The  Prime 
Minister  got  up,  and  bowing  low  to  his  Queen,  gave 
her  his  hand,  helped  her  down  the  steps,  and  led 
her  behind  the  sheet,  where  she  remained  some 
time,  evidently  longer  than  her  husband  approved 
of,  for  he  was  continually  peeping  behind  the  sheet 
during  the  bath.  Meanwhile  a  strange  mixture  of 
noises  was  going  on.  Inside  the  room  the  native 
Methodists  were  offering  up  prayers  and  singing 
doleful  hymns,  while  the  band  outside  struck  up 
wild-sounding  Malagasy  tunes.  At  intervals  some¬ 
body,  who  took  great  pains  to  copy  the  intonation 
of  an  English  drill  -  sergeant,  put  somebody  else 
through  the  manual  and  firing  exercise.  This  was 
without  doubt  one  of  the  relics  of  the  Willoughby 
reign. 

o 

At  last  Her  Majesty  emerged  from  behind  the 
sheet.  I  at  once  recognised  the  same  crimson  train, 
so  I  fancy  the  only  change  she  had  made  was  taking 
off  her  larnba,  showing  an  entirely  European  dress 
with  its  bodice  cut  square  in  front.  The  beautiful 
diamond  necklace  presented  to  her  by  the  French 
Republic,  and  the  massive  gold  crown  she  now  wore, 

M 


178 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


made  her  look  very  magnificent.  I  remarked  after¬ 
wards  to  Monsieur  de  Adlers  that  it  seemed  a  pity 
she  used  European  materials,  especially  as  on  this 
particular  occasion  she  expects  the  Court  to  dress  in 
stuffs  made  on  the  island.  He  told  me  she  got  all 
her  smart  clothes  from  Paris,  and  from  the  curious 
cut  of  the  dress  I  imagine  they  are  made  according 
to  what  the  Parisians  think  will  suit  native  taste. 
In  her  right  hand  she  held  a  gourd  mounted  in 
silver,  full  of  the  water  she  was  supposed  to  have 
bathed  in.  Giving  her  other  hand  to  the  Prime 
Minister,  she  walked  to  the  door  and  back  again, 
sprinkling  the  contents  of  her  cup  over  everybody 
as  a  sort  of  blessing.  She  then  ascended  the  throne, 
and  we  all  sat  down  on  our  heels — a  position  we  did 
not  in  the  least  appreciate,  as  our  legs  soon  began 
to  ache — while  more  prayers  were  said,  which  she 
followed  in  her  red  prayer-book. 

Now  began  the  ceremony  called  the  “  Hasina,”  of 
presenting  silver  coins  in  token  of  allegiance.  The 
governors  and  chiefs  of  the  kingdom  walked  up  the 
gangway  three  at  a  time,  bowing  low,  with  hands  out¬ 
stretched  as  if  to  catch  blessings  and  distribute  them 
to  the  rest,  and  at  the  same  time  to  defend  them¬ 
selves  from  the  too  great  glory  of  the  Sovereign. 
They  halted  some  distance  from  the  throne,  where 
the  Queen’s  sister  was  squatting  on  the  ground  for 
the  purpose  of  receiving  the  coins,  which  they  put  in 
her  hand  after  making  short  addresses  to  the  Queen, 


THE  “  HASINA.” 


179 


to  which  she  answered  in  a  few  words.  Last  of  all 
came  the  Sakalavas,  who,  being  black,  cannot  ap¬ 
proach  the  Queen;  so  they  made  their  addresses  from 
just  within  the  doorway,  the  sister  having  to  go 
down  to  them  to  receive  their  offerings.  After  this 
she  walked  up  to  the  throne,  and  shovelled  the  whole 
sum  on  to  the  Queen’s  lap  in  a  most  undignified 
manner.  The  Prime  Minister  had  all  this  time 
been  sitting  on  the  lower  step  of  the  throne.  He 
now  got  up,  and  in  his  turn  made  a  speech  to  the 
Queen,  enlivened  by  many  gesticulations,  and  ended 
by  thanking  her  for  all  her  favours,  and  swearing 
loyalty  in  his  own  name  and  that  of  the  army. 
The  band  struck  up,  the  officers  drew  and  waved 
their  swords,  while  the  shouts  outside  reminded  me 
of  the  familiar  exclamation  a  crowd  always  utters 
directly  a  beautiful  rocket  has  exploded. 

After  a  long  grace,  said  by  one  of  the  native  par¬ 
sons,  began  the  distribution  of  the  meat  and  rice, 
wdiich  wras  handed  round  to  every  one  on  plates  wdth 
the  banana-leaf  scoops  which  the  women  had  been 
making.  The  smell  of  the  meat  wms  so  awful  that 
most  of  us  would  only  taste  the  rice.  I  was  much 
struck  with  the  truly  British  pluck  of  the  English 
Vice-Consul,  who  ate  the  wdiole  with  seeming  relish. 
When  this  frugal  meal  was  at  an  end,  the  Queen 
rose  and  made  a  short  speech,  at  the  conclusion  of 
which  more  shouts  w7ere  heard,  drowned  by  a  salvo  of 
cannon.  So  ended  this  strange  jumble  of  pantomime, 


180 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


church,  picnic,  Drawing-room  at  Buckingham  Palace, 
pomp,  ancl  utter  want  of  dignity,  with  a  consider¬ 
able  mixture  of  good  honest  savagedom. 

AATe  then  all  backed  out  of  the  room,  leaving  the 
Queen  sitting  on  the  throne.  The  Prime  Minister 
came  and  shook  hands  with  Monsieur  de  Vilers,  who 
formally  introduced  us  to  him.  The  present  Sov¬ 
ereign,  Razafinvrahity,  who  was  proclaimed  Queen 
in  1883  under  the  title  of  Ranavalona  IIP,  is,  I  am 
told,  his  third  Queen,  it  being  the  law  of  the  country 
that  the  Prime  Minister  must  be  the  husband  of  the 
Queen.  They  have  many  other  curious  customs, 
and  their  morals,  as  far  as  I  have  heard  and  read, 
closely  resemble  those  of  the  South  Sea  Islanders. 

AATe  were  informed  on  good  authorit}^  that  the 
reason  the  Methodists  formerly  became  a  great 
power  in  the  country  was  that  the  Prime  Minister, 
wishing  to  get  rid  of  his  too  powerful  brother, 
turned  Christian,  and  married  his  Queen  under 
Christian  rites,  so  as  to  have  the  excuse  of  exiling 
his  brother  as  a  heathen.  Later  on,  finding  that 
the  Methodists  were  getting  too  strong  for  him, 
he  established  the  Church  of  England  as  a  counter- 
poise. 

Our  departure  from  the  Palace  reminded  me  most 
forcibly  of  similar  scenes  in  London.  Having  walked 
to  the  gate,  we  had  to  wait  until  some  of  the  party 
had,  after  a  great  deal  of  shouting,  collected  the 
porters,  who  drew  up  with  their  filanzanas  in  a 


PLANS  FOR  RETURN  JOURNEY. 


181 


string,  which  the  crowd  outside  was  continually 
breaking  through.  Finally,  we  got  back  to  the 
Eesidency  about  eleven  o’clock,  and  were  delighted 
to  find  supper  waiting  for  us. 

IV. 

Friday  morning  we  spent  at  the  Eesidency  with 
our  host,  making  out  all  the  plans  for  our  journey 
to  Mojanga,  on  the  west  coast  of  Madagascar. 
Having  settled  to  start  the  following  Monday, 
Monsieur  d’Anthouard  undertook  to  collect  the 
porters.  Monsieur  de  Vilers,  with  his  usual  kind¬ 
ness,  had  asked  Monsieur  Martini — a  young  officer 
on  his  staff,  who  spoke  Malagasy  fluently — if  he 
would  like  to  escort  us,  and  to  see  more  of  the 
island,  an  offer  he  gladly  accepted.  We  wTere  also 
to  have  two  other  travelling  companions,  Monsieur 
Cazeneuve,  a  director  of  the  Messageries  line,  and 
Monsieur  Alibert,  a  merchant  living  at  Tamatave. 

The  doctor  did  not  approve  of  our  leaving  the 
capital  so  soon  ;  for  we  were  not  allowing  time  for 
the  fever,  which  is  usually  contracted  by  travellers 
in  the  lagoons  on  the  east  coast,  to  declare  itself. 
We  had  but  little  choice  in  the  matter,  however,  as 
Monsieur  Cazeneuve  was  anxious  to  get  to  Mojanga 
in  time  to  meet  the  boat  which  was  to  take  him  to 
Diego  Suarez. 

In  the  evening  Monsieur  de  Tilers  invited  Bishop 


182 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


Cornish,  his  son  and  daughter-in-law,  Miss  Buckle, 
and  Mr  and  Mrs  Pickersgill,  to  meet  us  at  dinner. 
The  Bishop  was  very  anxious  we  should  see  his 
church,  so  we  promised  to  attend  service  on  Sunday. 

On  Saturday  morning  Doctor  Baissade  photo¬ 
graphed  us  in  his  garden.  Harry  was  on  his  filan- 
zana  with  his  four  bearers.  I  had  chaffingly  ex¬ 
pressed  a  wish  to  be  photographed  with  a  Malagasy 
baby  in  my  arms,  and,  to  my  amusement,  I  found 
waiting  for  me  a  young  Malagasy  mother,  delighted 
to  lend  her  baby  for  the  occasion.  After  lunch  we 
went  to  see  Monsieur  Rigot,  who  is  in  the  Queen’s 
employ  as  superintendent  of  the  gold-mines.  .  His 
house  was  not  far  from  the  lake,  in  a  lovely  old 
garden,  full  of  fruit-trees,  flowering  shrubs,  and  many 
kinds  of  flowers.  He  took  us  to  see  his  horse,  a  rarity 
here,  as  I  believe  there  are  only  two  in  the  capital, 
the  roads  being  utterly  impracticable  for  them.  He 
also  showed  us  a  good  collection  of  ores  found  in  the 
island,  which  seems  to  be  rich  in  all  minerals  except 
coal,  which  so  far  has  not  been  found.  We  sat  some 
time  in  his  garden,  while  he  described  the  tour  of 
inspection  he  had  just  completed  to  the  gold-mines, 
and  which  covered  part  of  the  route  we  should  have 
to  pursue  from  the  capital  to  the  coast.  He  warned 
us  we  might  possibly  fall  in  with  marauding  parties 
of  Sakalavas,  as  on  his  journey  he  had  seen  two 
villages  being  attacked  and  pillaged  by  them.  As 
he  was  alone,  except  for  his  porters,  he  was  unable 


THE  QUEEN  S  COUNTRY-HOUSE. 


183 


to  render  any  assistance  to  the  unfortunate  inhabi¬ 
tants,  whose  shrieks  he  heard  in  the  distance. 

The  Betsiriry,  commonly  called  Sakalavas  by  the 
Malagasy,  are  one  of  the  western  tribes  of  the  island, 
a  fierce  and  savage  race,  and  the  terror  of  their  more 
peaceful  neighbours.  The  Rev.  E.  0.  MacMahon, 
who  travelled  through  their  country,  thus  describes 
the  appearance  of  the  first  he  met :  “  He  had  no 
clothing  beyond  a  waistband  round  his  loins,  but  he 
made  up  for  this  defect  by  paint  and  weird  orna¬ 
mentations,  such  as  crocodiles’  teeth,  chains,  and 
beads  disposed  around  his  head  and  neck ;  his  hair 
was  done  up  in  large  knobs.” 

After  leaving  Monsieur  Rigot  we  went  to  visit 
Mahazoarivo,  a  country  -  house  belonging  to  the 
Queen  on  the  Ikopo  river.  The  grounds  were 
curiously  laid  out  —  a  mixture  of  grandeur  and 
dilapidation ;  but  the  place  had  to  my  mind  one 
redeeming  feature,  the  beautiful  violet  lotus-flowers 
with  which  part  of  the  river  was  covered.  That 
night  we  all  adjourned  to  dine  with  the  doctor  in 
his  little  house  in  the  middle  of  the  town.  We  got 
home  early,  and  sat  on  our  balcony  watching  the 
bonfires  lit  in  many  parts  of  the  capital,  this  being 
the  last  night  of  the  Fondroana.  The  flames  shot 
up  spasmodically,  giving  a  ghostly  appearance  to 
the  groups  of  natives  in  their  white  lambas ,  and 
throwing  strong  weird  shadows  on  the  red  brick 
houses. 


184 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


On  Sunday  morning  I  went  with  Monsieur  de 
Adlers  to  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  which  was 
very  crowded,  and  where  we  heard  good  music. 
In  the  afternoon  we  kept  our  promise  to  Bishop 


Articles  of  Malagasy  Manufacture . 

1.  Fans.  4.  Straw-boxes.  7.  Model  of  man’s  JHanzana. 

2.  Coloured  straw-boxes.  5.  Open  work-box.  8.  Model  of  woman’s  filci7iza7ia . 

3.  Bamboo  snuff-box.  6.  Gourd  snuff-box.  9.  Seed  snuff-box. 

Cornish,  and  went  to  tea  with  him  after  the  service. 
That  evening  Monsieur  de  Adlers  gave  a  dinner¬ 
party  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Bishop,  who  came 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  DEPARTURE. 


185 


accompanied  by  three  other  priests.  Towards  the 
end  of  dinner,  conversation  somehow  turned  on  my 
having  lived  so  much  in  the  south  of  France,  which 
seemed  to  rouse  their  interest,  and  in  the  drawing¬ 
room  I  found  myself  sitting  on  a  sofa  with  the 
Bishop  beside  me  and  two  of  his  priests  opposite. 
Both  of  them  having  been  born  and  bred  in  the 
Pyrenees,  great  was  their  delight  when  I  began 
talking  Bearnais  to  them,  which  they  showed  by 
alternately  rubbing  their  hands  over  and  over,  then 
suddenly  bringing  down  the  outspread  palms  vio¬ 
lently  on  their  knees,  and  at  short  intervals  taking 
pinches  of  snuff,  causing  them  to  blow  their  noses 
violently  with  their  large  red  cotton  handkerchiefs. 

It  was  decided  that  Monsieur  cle  Tilers  and  the 
whole  French  community  should  escort  us  next 
morning  as  far  as  Ambohidratrimo,  where  our  kind 
host  proposed  to  give  us  a  parting  picnic  breakfast. 

Monday,  November  the  26th,  we  were  up  be¬ 
times,  and  after  packing,  went  to  the  Residency, 
where  wre  all  assembled,  and  started  —  a  regular 
caravan.  I  was  quite  sorry  to  leave  Antananarivo, 
with  its  curious  and  half-civilised  people.  Our  road 
went  down  into  a  lovely  plain,  with  low  rocky  hills 
springing  up  here  and  there ;  then  led  us  along  a 
causeway  fifteen  feet  broad,  made  for  the  purpose 
of  irrigation,  and  separating  the  plain  from  the 
river  Ikopo.  This  embankment  a  year  ago  got 
into  such  disrepair,  that  the  Queen  used  to  superin- 


186 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


tend  the  work  herself,  and  obliged  every  citizen  to 
build  one  cubic  metre  with  his  own  hands.  We 
came  to  two  wide  gaps  which  were  bridged  over 
by  several  small  trees  laid  side  by  side,  making  a 
most  dangerous  place  to  cross ;  but  our  men  went 
over  without  flinching. 

We  all  breakfasted  at  Ambohidratrimo,  under  the 
famous  Amontana  tree,  which  is  a  landmark  seen 
from  most  parts  of  Imerina.  This  place  was  origi¬ 
nally  one  of  the  twelve  sacred  cities  of  this  province. 
There  are  a  number  of  royal  tombs  still  to  be  seen  on 
the  top  of  a  hillock,  up  which  I  tried  to  scramble, 
but  slipped  in  so  doing,  and  fell  on  an  aloe-leaf, 
running  one  of  its  poisonous  thorns  into  my  knee, 
which  at  once  caused  a  good  deal  of  pain  and 
swelling.  After  a  cheery  breakfast,  during  which 
our  healths  had  been  freely  drunk  in  champagne, 
one  of  the  party  photographed  us  all ;  and  then, 
wdtli  many  affectionate  farewells,  we  parted ;  Mes¬ 
sieurs  Cazeneuve,  Martini,  and  Alibert,  and  our  two 
selves,  with  our  retainers,  starting  on  our  westward 
journey,  while  the  others  retraced  their  steps  to  the 
capital. 

We  soon  got  into  an  uninteresting  country,  and 
after  about  four  hours  and  a  half,  we  arrived 
at  Babay.  The  accommodation  here  looked  most 
forbidding,  the  place  being  generally  filthy,  and 
full  of  pigs — sleeping  companions  whose  existence 
we  had  almost  forgotten  during  our  sojourn  in 


BABAY. 


187 


Imerina.  After  inspecting  several  huts,  we  chose 
a  two-storeyed  house,  the  least  evil-smelling  of  the 
collection  ;  but  the  ground-floor  even  of  this  was  so 
appallingly  dirty  that  wTe  decided  at  all  events  to 
avoid  our  four-footed  companions  by  sleeping  on  the 
first  floor.  So  after  the  simandous  had  turned  the 
inhabitants  out,  Harry  and  I  scrambled  up  a  rickety 


broken-down  staircase,  and  found  ourselves  in  rooms 
a  degree  less  dirty,  though  very  untidy — the  poor 
owners  in  their  hurry  having  left  all  their  things 
strewn  about  in  such  disorder  that  it  was  difficult 
to  find  floor-room  on  which  to  pitch  our  beds. 
In  the  meanwhile  Monsieur  Alibert,  wdio  prided 
himself  on  his  knowledge  of  cooking,  was,  with 


188 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


much  swearing  and  under  great  difficulties,  helping 
our  native  cook  to  get  dinner  ready.  He  was  a 
cheery  little  man,  always  making  the  best  of  every¬ 
thing.  He  was  quite  the  type  of  Tartarin,  and,  like 
that  hero,  was  a  native  of  Provence,  and  had  the 
broad  pronunciation  of  that  part  of  France.  When 
not  looking  after  the  cook,  he  devoted  his  energies 
to  keeping  the  servants  and  porters  in  order,  and 
they  certainly  kept  his  hands  pretty  full ;  but  in  spite 
of  all  his  efforts,  I  cannot  say  that  the  meal  was  a 
great  success.  Our  chef  had  been  engaged  at  An¬ 
tananarivo  in  consequence  of  his  own  statement 
that  he  had  been  employed  in  that  capacity  on  a 
man-of-war ;  but  we  had  forgotten  to  ask  him  for 
how  long,  and  judging  from  his  performances  while 
in  our  service,  I  am  inclined  to  doubt  his  engage¬ 
ment  having  lasted  many  hours. 

The  next  morning  we  left  at  5.30,  keeping  in 
the  same  monotonous  country  —  a  rolling  grass¬ 
land,  here  and  there  intersected  with  water-courses — 
which  continued  for  about  an  hour.  Then  leaving 
these  rich  grazing-grounds,  and  passing  to  the  west 
of  a  high  rocky  hill,  we  reached  the  watershed  of 
the  Ikopo  and  the  Andranobe,  and  descended  into 
a  more  populous  valley,  and  bearing  to  the  left, 
forded  the  Andranobe  river. 

There  was  an  extraordinary  difference  in  the 
amount  of  traffic  on  this  road  and  that  between 
Tamatave  and  the  capital.  On  the  latter  we  hardly 


ON  THE  ROAD  TO  MOJANGA. 


189 


met  a  single  filanzana  during  the  whole  jour¬ 
ney  from  the  coast,  and  very  rarely  a  human  being 
of  any  sort  outside  the  hamlets  at  which  we  halted. 
Over  this  road,  on  the  contrary,  there  appeared  to 
be  a  continual  stream  of  traffic,  due  to  the  attraction 
of  the  gold-mines,  to  which  the  natives  flock  from 
all  parts  of  the  island,  and  from  which,  dead  or 
alive,  they  make  a  point  of  returning  to  their  own 
homes.  During  this  morning’s  march  we  met  one 
in  the  former  condition,  wrapped  up  in  linen,  and 
strapped  on  to  two  poles  of  bamboo,  from  which 
were  also  hung  a  miscellaneous  collection  of  the 
deceased’s  worldly  goods ;  among  these  were  in¬ 
cluded  a  number  of  guns,  spears,  and  old  cooking- 
pots.  Soon  afterwards  we  were  afforded  a  pleasant 
contrast  in  the  shape  of  a  live  and  very  lively  Mala¬ 
gasy  officer,  in  command  of  a  company  of  soldiers, 
making  a  triumphal  return  to  civilisation,  borne  on 
a  filanzana ,  and  accompanied  by  a  bevy  of  his  hand¬ 
maidens,  who,  running  by  the  side  of  his  conveyance, 
enlivened  the  dulness  of  the  journey  with  cheerful 
songs.  Nor  were  we  without  a  little  music  to 
cheer  us  on  our  way.  As  they  marched  along,  our 
porters  would  sing  their  national  songs  in  parts  ; 
while  in  the  evenings  we  often  had  a  regular  con¬ 
cert,  the  men  sitting  in  a  circle  and  singing  to  the 
accompaniment  of  the  valia,  the  only  musical  in¬ 
strument  I  saw  in  Madagascar.  It  is  made  out  of  a 
length  of  a  large  bamboo,  part  of  the  outer  skin  of 


190 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


which  is  separated  and  cut  into  strings,  tightened 
by  a  bridge  of  pumpkin-rind. 

At  10.30  we  arrived  at  Antoby,  a  deserted  vil¬ 
lage  of  about  fifteen  houses,  surrounded  by  a  thick 
cactus -hedge,  the  only  entrance  through  which  was 
too  narrow  even  for  the  passage  of  the  filanzana. 
The  houses  had  been  left  in  such  a  filthy  state  that, 
fairly  well  accustomed  to  dirt  though  we  were,  they 
were  rather  more  than  we  could  stand ;  so  we  had 
our  breakfast  in  an  old  Protestant  church,  which 
looked  like  a  tumble-down  barn. 

After  breakfast  and  a  good  rest  we  again  started, 
and  immediately  afterwards  recrossed  the  Andranobe 
river,  and,  ascending  its  left  bank,  gained  a  grassy 
plateau  some  seven  or  eight  hundred  feet  above  the 
river,  and  thickly  dotted  with  herds  of  cattle. 
While  on  this  upland  a  heavy  shower  came  on, 
which  caused  our  porters  to  put  on  their  best  pace, 
and  sliding  down  the  steep  farther  slope,  we  crossed 
the  Andranobe  for  the  third  time,  and  found  our¬ 
selves  at  the  foot  of  a  steep  hill,  on  which  is  perched 
the  intrenched  village  of  Ankazobe,  where  we  were 
to  pass  the  night.  Climbing  the  hill,  we  reached 
its  outskirts,  and  found  it  to  be  surrounded  by  a 
fifteen  -  foot  trench,  into  which,  after  travelling 
round  three  -  fourths  of  it,  we  descended  by  a 
narrow  rocky  path,  and  climbing  the  other  side, 
entered  the  village  by  a  narrow  opening  in  a 
mud  wall,  through  which  a  miniature  torrent  was 


DANGERS  FROM  THE  SAKALAYAS. 


191 


rushing.  After  being  greeted  by  the  usual  family 
of  pigs,  we  hurried  on  into  the  houses,  which  we 
found  ready  prepared  by  the  simandou  who  had 
preceded  us.  In  ours  we  found  an  unusually  clean 
family.  Among  them  was  a  young  mother  nurs¬ 
ing  her  baby  :  she  could  not  have  been  more  than 
twelve  or  thirteen,  by  no  means  an  unusual  age 
here  for  a  married  woman.  We  all  assembled  in 
this  house  for  dinner,  to  save  my  having  to  wralk 
out  in  the  deep  mud. 

Next  morning  we  wTere  off  at  the  usual  time, 
Harry  and  I  ahead,  the  luggage-porters  in  the 
middle,  and  the  rest  in  the  rear.  This  arrangement 
was  made  as  there  was  supposed  to  be  some  danger 
of  our  being  attacked  by  Sakalavas,  and  the  baggage- 
porters  were  utterly  helpless  and  undefended.  As  we 
never  were  attacked,  I  cannot  say  how  formidable  the 
Sakalavas  really  were  ;  but  they  had  certainly  man¬ 
aged  to  inspire  all  the  natives  of  our  party  with  the 
greatest  respect ;  and  judging  by  the  many  villages 
we  passed  utterly  devastated  by  them,  they  seemed 
to  be  at  all  events  better  fighting  men  than  the 
more  civilised  inhabitants  of  the  country. 

These  precautions  were,  as  it  turned  out,  quite 
unnecessary,  for  during  the  days  march  we  met 
nothing  more  alarming  than  three  corpses  on  their 
way  home,  although  at  one  moment  our  porters 
had  a  good  scare  on  seeing  some  men  hiding 
among  the  rocks  ;  but  these  proved  to  be  soldiers 


192 


THE  ISLAND  OP  MYSTERY. 


guarding  the  road,  who  had  had  an  encounter 
with  the  Sakalavas  the  day  before,  killing  three, 
whose  grinning  heads,  stuck  on  poles,  we  passed  a 
few  miles  farther  on,  while  their  already  very  un¬ 
pleasant  bodies  lay  across  the  road  about  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  beyond. 

We  halted  for  breakfast  at  Maharidaza,  a  strongly 
fortified  village  surrounded  by  a  high  brick  wall, 
outside  which,  at  a  distance  of  about  ten  feet,  was 
a  thick  cactus-hedge.  The  entrance  into  it  was 
unlike  any  I  had  ever  seen  before ;  the  sides  of 
the  narrow  tunnel-like  opening  in  the  hedge  had 
been  lined  with  rows  of  untrimmed  trunks  of  trees, 
planted  vertically  about  nine  inches  apart.  Between 
these  were  dropped  horizontally  a  number  of  logs, 
thus  forming  a  series  of  barriers  across  the  archway. 
These  being  removed,  we  found  ourselves  in  a  sort 
of  square  well,  two  sides  of  which  were  formed  of 
trimmed  cactus,  the  third  by  a  most  uncompro¬ 
mising  brick  wall,  while  on  the  fourth — in  the  same 
wall  and  at  right  angles  to  the  tunnel— was  a  low 
doorway,  closed  by  a  solid  mass  of  rock.  While  we 
were  wondering  whether  we  were  to  be  hauled  up 
by  a  rope  or  left  where  we  were,  the  stone  door 
gently  slid  aside,  and  passing  through  the  archway 
we  discovered  that  it  was  a  huge  disc,  somewhat 
like  a  gigantic  millstone,  set  on  edge  on  a  level 
platform,  and  which  without  a  very  great  effort 
could  be  rolled  backwards  and  forwards. 


KINAJY. 


193 


During  the  next  clay’s  journey  the  country  seemed 
to  be  much  more  thinly  populated,  and  we  hardly 
saw  a  village,  although  herds  of  the  hump-backed 
cattle  were  still  to  be  seen  grazing  on  the  grassy 
slopes,  with  here  and  there  armed  herdsmen  keeping 
watch.  During  the  afternoon  we  got  caught  in  a 
tremendous  storm,  and  in  spite  of  waterproofs  were 
thoroughly  soaked.  I  had  been  out  of  sorts  all 
day,  and  this  about  finished  me  off,  and  by  the 
time  we  arrived  at  Kinajy  I  could  hardly  sit  upright 
in  my  filanzana,  and  was  counting  every  step  the 
porters  took  that  brought  me  nearer  some  place 
where  I  could  lie  down.  Great  was  my  despair 
therefore,  to  hear,  on  arriving  outside  the  walls, 
that  wTe  must  wait  until  we  had  received  the 
Governor’s  permission  to  enter. 

Kinajy  is  the  chief  town  of  the  province,  and  an 
important  place,  with  a  Governor  and  a  garrison 
of  six  hundred  men.  After  waiting  outside  for 
three-quarters  of  an  hour,  which  with  my  throbbing 
head,  and  the  deadly  sickness  which  had  come  over 
me,  seemed  an  age,  three  men  suddenly  rushed  out, 
and  imagining  that  they  were  the  forerunners  of  the 
Governor,  we  all  pulled  ourselves  together  to  receive 
him.  However,  taking  no  notice  of  us,  they  passed 
at  full  speed,  and  proceeded  to  a  stream  in  the 
valley  below,  whence  they  returned  shortly  after¬ 
wards,  still  in  hot  haste,  bearing  a  flowing  white 
object,  which,  having  nothing  better  to  do,  we 

1ST 


194 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


watched  with  great  interest,  until,  as  it  was  borne 
past  us,  we  recognised  it  as  a  frilled  linen  shirt, 
evidently  the  property  of  his  Excellency,  who  was 
forced  to  postpone  our  welcome  until  he  could 
appear  in  a  suitable  costume.  So  with  as  much 
show  of  patience  as  we  could  muster,  we  settled 
down  to  wait  again,  I  for  one  heartily  wishing  that 
the  great  man  would  have  come  as  he  was,  no 
matter  what  costume  he  might  have  been  in. 

After  a  time  the  welcome  sound  reached  us  of 
a  thoroughly  discordant  band,  and  then,  wading 
through  the  deep  black  mud  of  the  narrow  entrance, 
came  the  big  drum,  followed  in  single  file  by  the 
trumpets  and  clarionets,  the  rear  of  the  procession 
being  brought  up  by  the  commander  of  the  forces — 
a  tall  man  in  a  green  coat  with  a  certain  look  of  a 
uniform,  a  Tyrolese  hat  with  a  red  ribbon  round 
it,  and  a  drawn  sword  in  his  hand — and  about  a 
dozen  men,  well  armed,  but  with  the  most  nonde¬ 
script  of  uniforms,  who,  having  been  drawn  up  in 
a  line,  presented  arms  at  the  English  word  of 
command  to  that  effect,  and  then  turning  round, 
preceded  us  into  the  town. 

The  entrance  was  somewhat  similar  to  that  in  the 
outer  fence  of  Maharidaza,  the  only  difference  being 
that  it  was  closed  by  a  curtain  of  vertical  logs  slung 
on  ropes,  somewhat  on  the  principle  of  the  Indian 
reed  -  and  -  bead  curtains.  A  very  short  journey 
through  the  little  town  brought  us  to  the  Governor’s 

o  o 


THE  GOVERNOR  OF  KINAJY. 


195 


house,  a  one-roomed  hut  in  the  middle  of  a  palisaded 
yard,  in  one  corner  of  which  was  a  small  brass 
cannon.  After  passing  through  the  gateway,  the 
band  halted  and  struck  up  the  “Marseillaise,”  fol¬ 
lowed  in  our  honour  by  a  strange  mixture  of  “  God 
save  the  Queen  ”  and  the  Malagasy  National 
Anthem  ;  wrhich  ceremony  over,  the  Governor 
stepped  out  of  his  doorway  to  welcome  us.  He 
was  an  intelligent-looking  Hova,  dressed  in  a  blue 
naval  frock-coat,  a  white  peaked  forage-cap,  and 
pepper-and-salt  trousers,  and  I  have  no  doubt  made 
himself  very  agreeable  ;  but  I  was  feeling  so  miser¬ 
able  that  the  only  item  of  his  conversation  in  which 
I  took  any  interest  was  that  in  which  he  told  us 
that  on  our  approach  he  had  ordered  our  huts  to 
be  prepared,  and  that  they  were  then  ready.  On 
hearing  this  welcome  news  we  hurried  off  to  ours, 
and  Harry  at  once  took  my  temperature,  and  finding 
it  was  104°,  packed  me  straight  off  to  bed,  and 
would  not  hear  of  my  going  to  the  dinner  to  which 
we  had  all  been  invited  by  the  Governor.  Before 
joining  the  party  himself,  he  gave  me  a  whole 
bottle  of  Warburg’s  tincture,  which  had  the  desired 
effect  of  bringing  down  my  temperature,  but  did 
not  keep  off  the  terrible  delirium.  As  far  as  I  can 
remember,  the  night  was  a  succession  of  half-waking 
nightmares  and  half-dozing  consciousness  of  snarling 
dogs  and  grunting  pigs. 

Next  morning  I  was  still  very  weak  and  ill,  but 


196 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


as  Harry  thought  that  at  all  hazards  I  ought  to 
be  got  down  to  the  coast  and  on  board  a  ship  as 
quickly  as  possible,  we  started  early,  my  filamana 
having  been  converted  into  a  kind  of  litter  by  means 
of  sacking  stretched  between  the  poles.  My  only 
recollection  of  the  day’s  journey  was  our  arrival  at  a 
village,  where  they  breakfasted,  which  had  lately  been 
attacked  by  the  Sakalavas,  who  had  taken  prisoners 
all  the  inhabitants  except  four  leper-girls,  whom  we 
found  remaining  there.  After  being  taken  out  of 
my  filamana,  I  was  so  exhausted  that  I  lay  on  the 
dirty  floor  of  a  hut  unable  to  move,  with  the  poor 
lepers — disgusting  sights — staring  at  me  the  whole 
time.  It  was  not  a  very  cheerful  halting-place  for 
any  of  us ;  but  our  men  were  in  a  great  state  of 
delight,  having  found  a  number  of  pits  full  of  rice, 
which  the  Sakalavas  had  left  untouched.  With 
this  they  filled  the  bags  they  always  carried 
round  their  waists,  thus  providing  themselves  with 
free  dinners  for  some  days  to  come.  I  see  by 
Harry’s  journal  that  we  slept  that  evening  at  Arn- 
potaka,  and  that  the  country  we  passed  through 
during  that  afternoon  was  wholly  uninhabited  and 
very  monotonous. 

Next  morning  I  woke  up  feeling  much  better, 
Harry  having  given  me  thirty  grains  of  quinine  the 
night  before,  and  when  we  started  at  5.30,  I  was 
able  to  sit  up  in  my  filamana  as  usual.  The  ground 
now  began  to  fall  rapidly  to  the  westward,  and  soon 


PLUNDERED  VILLAGES. 


197 


after  eight  we  descended  into  the  valley  of  the 
Mahambkamita,  a  river  nearly  a  hundred  yards 
broad,  and  after  the  recent  heavy  rains,  rather  un¬ 
pleasantly  rapid  to  ford,  coming  well  up  to  the  men’s 
waists,  and  causing  them  to  take  off  what  little 
clothing  they  wore.  After  crossing  it  we  turned 
sharp  to  the  left  down  its  right  bank,  and  halted  for 
breakfast  at  Maroharona,  a  small  fortified  village 
which  had  also  been  pillaged  by  the  Sakalavas,  the 
men  being  nearly  all  away  at  the  gold-mines.  One 
or  two  of  them  had  since  returned  to  find  their 
homes  deserted  and  their  families  scattered,  all  the 
women  having  been  carried  off  as  slaves.  Thanks 
to  all  these  empty  villages,  we  were  beginning  to 
make  a  great  hole  in  our  store  of  tinned  provisions, 
as  the  chickens  and  eggs,  on  which  we  had  depended, 
had  lately  failed  us,  and  there  was  no  game  to  fall 
back  on. 

After  a  good  rest  we  started  again  across  a  broad 
plain  far  more  thickly  populated  than  the  districts 
we  had  been  traversing,  and  after  about  an  hour’s 
march  found  ourselves  under  the  northern  face  of 
the  remarkable  table  mountain  of  Andrimbe,  rising 
sheer  out  of  the  plain  to  a  height  of  nearly  a 
thousand  feet,  and  on  the  edge  of  whose  plateau 
was  visible  a  large  and  evidently  prosperous  vil¬ 
lage.  I  was  told  that  there  was  a  good  water- 
supply,  and  abundant  pasturage  at  the  top,  and 
that  it  was  inhabited  by  a  community  of  robbers, 


198 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


who  made  frequent  raids  into  the  plains.  It  cer¬ 
tainly  seemed  an  ideal  position  for  persons  of  their 
profession.  This  was  the  only  instance  of  this  sort 
of  mountain,  so  common  in  Africa,  which  we  came 
across  in  Madagascar. 

It  had  been  raining  all  the  morning,  and  after  a 
short  lull  at  mid-day  came  down  again  with  double 
force. 

I  noticed  that  our  porters  were  going  at  an  un¬ 
usual  pace,  and  thinking  that  they  were  probably 
anxious  to  get  as  quickly  as  possible  out  of  the 
Andrimbe  neighbourhood,  I  asked  if  this  was  the 
case,  but  was  told  that  these  mountaineers  were  only 
cattle-robbers,  who  would  not  care  to  attack  us,  and 
that  a  far  more  serious  matter  was  the  rapidly  rising 
Kamolandy  river,  which  lay  between  us  and  our 
destination,  from  which  there  was  a  fair  prospect  of 
our  being  cut  oft’.  Nor  did  we  arrive  at  it  a  minute 
too  soon.  I  happened  to  be  leading,  and  for  one 
moment  my  men  hesitated  as  they  saw  the  broad 
seething  mass  of  muddy  water  in  front  of  them,  then 
boldly  dashing  into  it,  were  soon  well  above  their 
waists.  It  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that  they 
kept  their  feet,  leaning  hard  against  the  stream, 
and  moving  only  one  at  a  time,  and  then  with  the 
most  cautious  steps.  As  I  watched  the  torrent 
piling  itself  against  the  up  -  stream  side  of  their 
naked  bodies,  and,  glancing  over  the  side  of  my 
JUanzana,  saw  the  streaks  of  foam  rushing  seawards 


PASSAGE  OF  THE  KAMOLANDY. 


199 


beneath  me,  I  could  not  help  wondering  whether  I 
should  not  soon  be  accompanying  them,  and  how 
far  I  should  get  on  the  journey.  However,  we 
all  got  safely  across,  and  wading  over  a  succession 
of  submerged  fields,  with  here  and  there  a  hidden 
ditch  or  water-course,  into  which  the  men  slid  up 
to  their  shoulders,  we  climbed  a  small  hill,  and 
found  ourselves  outside  the  high  cactus-hedge  of 
Malatsy,  a  large  well-built  village,  where  we  passed 
the  night.  On  unpacking  our  baggage  we  found 
that  its  passage  of  the  Kamolandy  had  not  been 
quite  so  successful  as  our  own ;  everything  we  pos¬ 
sessed  was  absolutely  soaking.  So  after  collecting 
some  wood,  we  lit  a  fire  in  a  corner  of  our  hut  to 
dry  our  beds,  but  soon  wished  we  had  made  up 
our  minds  to  sleep  on  the  floor,  for  there  being 
no  proper  outlet  for  the  smoke  we  were  nearly 
suffocated,  and  had  to  run  outside  into  the  rain, 
where  we  were  promptly  surrounded  by  a  deputa¬ 
tion  of  women  with  presents  of  eggs,  rice,  &c.  We 
foolishly  gave  them  some  cut  money  to  get  rid  of 
them,  and  retired  into  our  smoke,  where,  in  conse¬ 
quence  of  our  generosity,  we  were  shortly  afterwards 
invaded  by  the  whole  population,  headed  by  the 
chief  of  the  village,  bearing  mangos,  chickens,  capsi¬ 
cums,  manioc,  and  every  other  product  of  the  place, 
which  they  thought  or  hoped  we  could  be  induced 
to  buy. 

Monsieur  Cazeneuve  having  chosen  a  nice  little 


200 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


whitewashed  hut  for  himself,  we  settled  to  dine  in 
it.  While  in  the  middle  of  dinner,  I  pointed  out  to 
him  an  army  of  big  cockroaches  issuing  from  several 
holes,  and  soon  overruning  the  walls.  The  poor  man 
was  horrified ;  the  one  thing  he  could  not  stand  was 
a  cockroach.  He  had  already  spent  several  sleepless 
nights  on  their  account,  and  had  pitched  on  this 
clean  room  in  hopes  of  peace.  Next  morning  he 
told  us  he  had  passed  the  whole  of  his  time  sitting 
on  a  chair  with  a  lighted  candle  beside  him,  for  fear 
the  monsters  should  crawl  over  him.  I  .certainly 
had  never  seen  such  a  swarm  all  at  once.  Perhaps 
it  was  that  the  dirt  and  unevenness  of  the  huts  had 
previously  prevented  me  from  doing  so.  We,  on 
our  part,  spent  an  unusually  good  night,  having  at 
last  been  struck  with  the  brilliant  idea  of  hiring  a 
couple  of  men  to  sit  outside  our  hut  and  prevent  the 
pigs  and  dogs  coming  in. 

The  next  morning  we  started  a  little  later  than 
usual,  and  after  travelling  for  some  time  on  very 
narrow  and  rough  paths,  we  gradually  made  a  sharp 
descent  on  to  a  swampy  plain,  where  the  tempera¬ 
ture  became  suddenly  quite  tropical,  and  which  was 
peculiarly  and  unpleasantly  rife  with  insect  life. 
Soon  after  reaching  it  we  entered  a  dense  cloud  of 
singularly  malignant  little  black  flies,  who  without  a 
moment’s  hesitation  went  for  the  exposed  parts  of 
our  bodies.  As  in  the  case  of  our  porters  this  was 
a  considerable  portion,  they  were  soon  streaming 


BLOODTHIRSTY  TORMENTORS. 


201 


with  blood,  and  set  to  work  to  run  for  dear  life. 
We  whites  only  fared  better  so  far  as  quantity  of 
bites  was  concerned.  I  never  came  across  such 
determined  or  bloodthirsty  tormentors ;  even  beat¬ 
ing  our  faces  hard  with  a  bunch  of  leaves  failed  to 
keep  them  off.  Luckily  the  plague  was  altogether 
local,  and  we  were  soon  clear  of  the  infested  belt ; 
only,  however,  to  run  in  the  course  of  half  an  hour 
into  a  flight  of  locusts,  which  did  us  no  harm  beyond 
flying  in  our  faces. 

Leaving  this  plain,  we  crossed  a  slight  ridge  of 
broken  ground.  Then  a  further  descent  brought  us 
into  a  region  in  which  the  familiar  vegetation  of  the 
east  coast  reappeared,  the  bottoms  of  the  valleys 
being  thickly  covered  with  rajia  palms,  bamboos, 
wild  citrons,  and  acacias,  beneath  which  grew  species 
of  coarse  grasses  and  cotton-plants.  We  reached  the 
pass  of  Marokolosy  at  9.20,  and  halted  for  three 
hours  in  the  little  village  of  the  same  name,  sur¬ 
rounded  by  a  stockade  and  a  double  cactus-hedge. 
Crossing  another  ridge,  we  found  ourselves  after 
two  hours’  march  at  Ampasoria,  a  gold-washing  sta¬ 
tion  on  the  Ampasoria  river.  It  consists  of  two  dis¬ 
tinct  settlements,  a  large  stockaded  native  village 
being  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  yards  distant  from 
the  European  compound,  which  is  also  enclosed  in 
a  high  palisade,  and  in  which  we  were  put  up. 
Our  small  hut  was  divided  into  two  rooms,  raised 
a  couple  of  feet  off  the  ground,  and  boasting  the 


202 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


luxury  of  boarded  doors  and  glass  windows ;  but 
in  point  of  cleanliness  it  was  little,  if  anything,  in 
advance  of  the  native  hut  to  which  we  had  been 
accustomed,  while  the  cockroaches  were,  if  possible, 
even  larger  and  more  numerous  than  usual. 

This  village  was  the  headquarters  of  a  Frenchman 
enrployed  by  the  Malagasy  Government  as  mining 
superintendent  of  the  district,  who,  after  we  had 
settled  down,  showed  us  over  the  place ;  and  judg¬ 
ing  from  what  we  saw,  I  should  say  the  monopoly 
was  a  very  profitable  one.  At  sunset  the  villagers 
streamed  into  the  superintendent’s  office  bearing 
the  proceeds  of  their  day’s  work ;  on  an  average 
about  a  table-spoonful  of  dust  apiece,  which  each 
individual  emptied  out  of  a  little  bag  into  one  pan 
of  a  pair  of  scales,  while  into  the  other  the  super¬ 
intendent  dropped  sufficient  pieces  of  silver  to  bal¬ 
ance  it.  With  these  the  digger  went  on  his  way 
rejoicing,  having  received  about  one-twentieth  of 
the  value  of  his  earnings.  All  minerals  in  Mada¬ 
gascar  belong  to  the  Crown,  so  that  no  prospecting 
can  be  done  by  outsiders. 

The  next  day,  Sunday,  we  made  rather  an  earlier 
start  than  usual,  and  after  traversing  a  varied  and 
well-wooded  country  for  about  three  hours,  arrived 
at  Antanimbarindratsontsaraka,  on  the  right  bank 
of  the  Ikopo,  here  a  much  more  imposing  river  than 
when  we  had  last  seen  it  near  Antananarivo.  It  had 
there,  however,  the  advantage  of  being  navigable, 


THE  BANKS  OF  THE  IKOPO. 


203 


while  it  is  here  broken  by  a  succession  of  rocky 
rapicls.  On  its  banks  we  again  found  the  “  Traveller’s 
Tree,”  and  for  the  first  time  I  saw  a  chameleon. 
After  following  the  banks  of  the  Ikopo  for  a  few 
miles,  the  road  turns  rather  sharply  to  the  right, 
and  passes  through  a  quartz  district,  which,  though 
undoubtedly  very  valuable  financially,  was  exceed¬ 
ingly  ugly,  and  a  source  of  much  annoyance  to  our 
barefooted  porters.  As  soon  as  wTe  got  into  rather 
softer  ground,  my  men  and  those  of  Monsieur 
Martini  began  to  race  for  a  small  torrent  ahead  of 
us,  which  they  said  was  free  of  crocodiles,  and  had 
good  drinking-water.  Being  still  very  shaky  after 
my  fever,  I  did  not  at  all  enjoy  this  rapid  pace, 
for,  in  addition  to  the  actual  pain  caused  by  the 
jolting,  it  prevented  me  putting  up  my  parasol. 
However,  its  unpleasantness  made  me  enjoy  the 
more  a  delicious  rest  on  a  soft  bed  of  white  sand 
under  the  shelter  of  an  overhanging  rock,  near  the 
edge  of  the  torrent,  in  which  our  men  plunged 
and  splashed  like  babies  during  the  whole  period 
of  our  halt,  whilst  troops  of  parroquets  chattered 
overhead. 

The  spot  where  we  halted  was  on  the  margin 
of  a  broad  rock-lined  pool  between  two  miniature 
cataracts,  and  was  a  particularly  tempting  one  to 
our  dust  -  grimed  carriers ;  consequently  all  the 
natives  of  the  party,  as  they  came  up  in  turn, 
followed  the  example  of  my  and  Monsieur  Martini’s 


204 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


men,  and  plunging  into  the  pool,  made  our  halt 
rather  a  long  one. 

After  leaving  this  place,  we  had  a  long  dusty 
march  over  a  tract  of  low  barren  hills,  until,  just  as 
the  sun  was  setting,  we  sighted  the  peculiar  table¬ 
shaped  plateau  of  red  clay  on  which  the  town  of 
Mavetanana  is  situated.  After  arriving  at  the  foot 
of  the  eastward  slope,  our  porters  had  a  steep  climb 
up  the  side  of  the  clay  escarpment,  cracked  by  the 
sun  into  deep  crevices  cutting  the  path  at  every 
fifty  yards  or  so,  and  giving  us  a  series  of  exciting 
little  jumps.  On  reaching  the  top  we  crossed  by 
a  drawbridge  the  deep  V-shaped  ditch  which  en¬ 
circles  the  town,  a  fair-sized  one,  and  containing 
a  Government  House  and  a  good  assortment  of 
shops.  After  passing  through  it,  we  again  crossed 
the  ditch,  and  following  the  crest  of  a  narrow  neck 
of  land,  found  ourselves  on  an  adjoining  hill,  on 
which  the  gold-mining  settlement  is  situated.  Our 
party  was  put  up  in  the  house  of  the  Inspector,  who 
was  then  in  France,  so  Harry  and  I  were  given 
his  large  dining-room,  where  we  set  up  our  beds  and 
encamped  for  the  night.  There  were  several  of  the 
Inspector’s  French  assistants  who  very  hospitably 
entertained  us  at  dinner,  and  also  invited  the  Hova 
Governor,  a  bright  intelligent  young  man,  together 
with  his  Malagasy  doctor  and  two  Malagasy  inter¬ 
preters,  to  meet  us.  We  sat  down  thirteen  ;  but  no 
one  seemed  to  notice  the  unlucky  number  until  next 


GOLD-WASHING. 


205 


morning  at  breakfast,  when  there  was  a  good  deal 
of  chaff  as  to  who  would  be  the  victim,  little  think¬ 
ing  that  poor  Monsieur  Cazeneuve  would  so  soon  die 
of  the  effects  of  the  journey,  which  sad  event  hap¬ 
pened  the  day  after  he  reached  Diego  Suarez.  The 
dinner  was  excellent,  and  was  served  in  a  little 
kiosk,  pleasantly  cool,  but  whose  light  seemed  to 
attract  every  insect  in  the  neighbourhood  through 
the  open  sides.  The  mosquitoes  were  a  veritable 
plague ;  while  food,  table  -  cloth,  ornaments,  and 
everything  were  black  with  the  most  extraordinary 
collection  of  flies,  moths,  daddy-longlegs,  praying- 
mantis,  and  all  kinds  of  insects. 

As  I  was  very  tired,  I  went  off  to  bed  directly 
after  dessert,  but  most  of  the  men  sat  up  into  the 
small  hours,  and  had  such  bad  heads  next  morning 
that  they  preferred  to  keep  quiet.  Harry  and  I, 
however,  went  with  the  Governor  and  two  of  the 
Frenchmen  to  a  small  river  where  a  crowd  of  women 
were  panning  out  gold.  Standing  in  the  water,  they 
scoop  out  the  mud  from  the  river-bed  with  shallow 
flat-bottomecl  dishes,  which  they  shake  with  a  pecu¬ 
liar  motion  under  water,  until  the  lighter  particles 
are  washed  away  and  only  the  gold  and  the  heavy 
black  sand  remains.  This  is  then  dried  in  the  sun, 
and  the  sand  got  rid  of  by  the  simple  process  of 
blowing  with  the  mouth  until  nothing  but  the  gold- 
dust  remains.  Now  and  then  they  have  the  luck 
to  find  big  nuggets,  but  the  gold  is  mostly  in  the 


206 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


form  of  very  fine  dust.  If,  as  I  believe  to  be  tlie 
case,  enough  gold  is  found  here  by  this  primitive 
process  to  make  the  mines  pay  well,  there  must  be 
a  wonderfully  rich  region  near  the  river-head  from 
which  the  gold  is  washed  down,  and  which  only 
requires  modern  machinery  to  develop  it. 

Walking  slowly  back,  the  Governor  asked  us  if  we 
had  been  attacked  by  any  of  the  Sakalavas  on  our 
way  from  the  capital.  Hearing  we  had  not  seen 
any,  he  said  we  were  very  lucky,  and  put  it  down 
to  the  rains  having  so  swelled  the  Ikopo  that  it  was 
impassable. 

On  our  return  we  came  upon  the  final  scene  of 
our  land  journey, — Monsieur  Martini,  money-bags  in 
hand,  in  the  midst  of  a  clamouring  crowd  of  porters 
whom  he  was  paying  off ;  while  behind  him,  with 
an  air  of  calm  superiority,  were  the  cook  and  the 
two  simandous,  who  were  to  accompany  us  to  the 
coast. 

Between  Mavetanana  and  the  coast  is  a  dense 
belt  of  forest  similar  to  that  on  the  east,  but 
traversed,  we  were  told,  by  an  even  worse  road 
than  that  from  Tamatave  to  the  capital,  all  the 
latter  part  of  it  being  across  deep  swamps.  Mave¬ 
tanana  had,  however,  this  advantage  over  Anta¬ 
nanarivo,  that  it  is  connected  with  the  sea  by  a 
navigable  river,  and  down  this  it  was  settled  that 
we  should  make  the  rest  of  our  journey. 

We  had  hoped  to  start  before  mid-day,  but  all 


EMBARKATION  ON  THE  IKOPO. 


207 


sorts  of  difficulties  arose  in  the  collection  of  boats 
and  boatmen,  and  it  was  past  four  before  we  got 
a  message  from  the  Governor  to  say  that  all  was 
ready  for  a  start.  Thinking  that  I  must  be  tired 
of  /zVansana- travelling,  he  kindly  offered  to  mount 
me  on  an  old  hornless  ox ;  but  I  preferred  my  usual 
steeds,  and  the  ox  was  mounted  by  a  funny  little 
shrivelled-up  old  man,  one  of  the  Governor’s  staff, 
who,  vainly  endeavouring  to  make  his  lumbering 
beast  keep  pace  with  my  porters,  tried  to  perform 
the  duties  of  an  equerry. 

On  arriving  at  the  river-side  we  found  that  the 
only  canoes  that  the  Governor  had  been  able  to 
procure  for  us  were  two  huge  dug-outs,  some  thirty- 
five  to  forty  feet  in  length,  each  requiring  a  large 
crew,  and  that  to  man  the  pair  of  them  he  had  only 
managed  to  get  seven  boatmen.  Monsieur  Martini, 
Harry  and  I,  with  three  men,  the  cook,  and  one 
simandou,  embarked  in  the  smaller  one,  and  the 
rest  of  the  party  and  the  remaining  four  boatmen 
in  the  larger.  Our  journey  for  that  day  began 
and  ended  in  a  small  shallow  back-water,  on  the 
many  sandbanks  of  which  our  canoe  was  continually 
running  aground,  much  to  the  disgust  of  our  crew, 
who  were  obliged  every  time  to  jump  overboard  and 
push  her  off,  keeping  the  while  as  sharp  a  look-out 
as  they  could  for  crocodiles,  with  which  the  river 
abounded.  At  last,  just  before  sunset,  we  found  our¬ 
selves  hopelessly  aground  opposite  a  little  village, 


208 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


still  within  sight  of  Mavetanana.  It  was  by  the 
inhabitants  of  this  village  that,  a  short  time  after¬ 
wards,  a  French  doctor  was  murdered  in  his  canoe ; 
but  at  this  time  they  had  no  evil  reputation  that 
we  knew  of.  The  other  canoe  being  out  of  sight 
behind  us,  and  thinking  it  useless  to  blunder  on  in 
the  dark,  we  settled  to  land  for  the  night,  and  try 
to  pick  up  some  more  boatmen.  But  as  far  as 
comfort  or  success  in  recruiting  was  concerned,  we 
might  as  well  have  stayed  on  board ;  for  after  a 
perilous  journey  to  the  shore,  perched  on  one  of  my 
boatmen’s  shoulders — the  only  way  in  which  he  could 
be  induced  to  carry  me — I  found  myself  in  an  extra¬ 
ordinarily  dirty  little  village,  from  which  almost  all 
the  population  had  departed  to  the  gold-mines,  and 
now  inhabited  only  by  one  man  and  two  old  women, 
who  utterly  refused  to  give  us  the  smallest  assist¬ 
ance.  After  wandering  about  for  some  time  in  the 
dark,  peering  into  huts,  one  more  evil-smelling  than 
another,  we  finally  settled  down  in  one,  and  after 
a  very  scratch  meal  tried  to  go  to  sleep.  As  far  as 
I  was  concerned  the  attempt  was  an  utter  failure  : 
what  with  the  hot  muggy  air,  crowds  of  hungry 
mosquitoes,  and  a  pestiferous  smell  from  the  river, 
which  seemed  to  get  worse  every  hour,  I  never  got 
a  wink,  and  gladly  welcomed  the  first  glimmer  of 
daylight,  which  gave  me  an  excuse  for  waking  up 
Harry,  Monsieur  Martini,  and  the  boatmen. 

In  spite  of  our  early  rising,  it  was  a  long  time 


DOWN  THE  IKOPO. 


209 


before  we  got  off.  The  other  canoe  had  not  yet 
turned  up,  and  it  was  as  much  as  our  three  men 
could  do  to  unload  ours,  shove  her  off,  and  then 
reload  her.  At  last,  however,  we  started,  and  soon 
got  into  the  main  river,  here  eight  hundred  to  a 
thousand  yards  wide,  and  running  through  mag¬ 
nificent  forest  scenery.  The  country  on  our  right 
was  like  a  thickly  wooded  English  park,  with  gigan¬ 
tic  trees  of  many  different  kinds,  under  the  shade  of 
which  we  landed  at  about  ten  o’clock  for  breakfast. 

But  beautiful  as  the  vegetation  was,  this  river- 
journey  soon  became  very  monotonous,  continuing 
as  it  did  between  unending  walls  of  trees.  In  the 
afternoon  the  sun  got  so  powerful  that  we  landed 
for  a  few  minutes  and  cut  some  sticks,  with  the  help 
of  which  we  rigged  up  a  make-shift  awning  with  our 
waterproof  sheets.  The  only  excitement  of  the 
journey  was  afforded  by  the  crocodiles,  extraordin¬ 
ary  numbers  of  which  were  apparently  asleep  on  the 
banks ;  but,  judging  from  the  pace  at  which  they 
flopped  into  the  water  as  we  approached,  they  were 
singularly  wide-awake.  Even  the  low  monotonous 
chant  of  our  boatmen  was  enough  to  disturb  them  ; 
and  as  we  were  all  anxious  to  get  a  shot,  we  did  our 
best  to  stop  this,  but  wholly  without  success.  One 
monster,  who  must  have  over-eaten  himself,  did  let 
us  get  within  a  fair  distance  of  him,  and  received 
a  volley  fired  by  all  three  of  us,  who  were  all  con¬ 
fident  that  we  had  mortally  wounded  him.  How- 


o 


210 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


ever  that  may  have  been,  he  slid  into  the  water, 
much  in  the  same  manner  as  his  uninjured  brethren, 
and  we  never  saw  him  again. 

With  the  exception  of  these  crocodiles,  we  saw 
hardly  any  signs  of  animal  life,  and  scarcely  any 
human  habitations ;  in  fact,  the  only  village  we 
passed  was  that  of  Ambinany,  on  getting  opposite 
which  our  natives  took  off  their  hats,  and  begged 
us  to  do  the  samO,  the  place  being  a  sacred  one. 
Shortly  afterwards  we  overtook  the  other  canoe, 
which  it  turned  out  had  stuck  on  a  sand-bank  soon 
after  starting,  and  there  kept  Monsieur  Cazeneuve 
and  Monsieur  Alibert  dinnerless  and  bedless  for  the 
night. 

Early  in  the  afternoon  we  reached  the  confluence 
of  the  Ikopo  with  the  larger  Betsiboka  river,  after 
which  the  stream  became  very  rapid,  and  although 
our  boat  made  but  little  way  through  the  water,  we 
glided  past  the  banks  at  a  fair  pace,  and  a  little 
before  sunset  reached  Karambily,  a  village  some 
twenty  miles  below  the  junction  of  the  two  rivers. 
Walking  a  quarter  of  a  mile  inland,  we  found  our¬ 
selves  in  a  large  clean  village,  where  we  were  well 
received  by  the  dark  -  coloured  inhabitants,  of  a 
totally  different  type  from  those  among  whom  we  had 
lately  been.  We  were  put  up  in  large  airy  huts, 
beautifully  clean,  which  had  been  carefully  prepared 
for  us.  Ours  looked  on  to  an  open  space,  a  sort  of 
village  green,  in  the  centre  of  which  was  a  large 


AMONG  THE  CROCODILES. 


211 


tree  literally  covered  with  the  beautifully  made 
nests  of  the  weaver-bird. 

Next  morning  we  were  up  betimes,  hoping  to 
reach  Maravoay  that  afternoon,  where  we  were  to 
exchange  our  duff-outs  for  the  dhow  which  would 

O  O 

take  us  on  to  Mojanga.  Loading  the  canoes,  how¬ 
ever,  took  an  unconscionable  time,  and  we  waited 
for  two  full  hours  on  the  river-bank  before  all  was 
ready  for  a  start. 

After  leaving  Karambily  the  river  became  far 
wider  and  the  country  more  open,  the  dense  forest 
giving  place  to  park-like  tracts,  which  with  every 
succeeding  mile  became  more  tropical  in  character, 
fan-palms,  tamarinds,  mangos,  and  bananas  being 
most  conspicuous.  Our  journey,  like  that  of  yester¬ 
day,  was  again  enlivened  by  the  crocodiles,  against 
whom  we  still  waged  a  most  unsuccessful  war, 
until  suddenly  some  way  off,  on  shore,  we  saw 
a  curious-looking,  pale-coloured  object  sticking  up 
out  of  some  long  grass,  which  our  steerer’s  accus¬ 
tomed  eye  at  once  recognised  as  the  head  of  a 
crocodile,  sleeping  in  what  seemed  to  be  a  curious 
position,  his  nose  pointing  straight  up  to  the  sky, 
showing  his  entire  throat.  It  was  a  mean  advantage 
to  take,  but  Harry  could  not  resist  it,  and  bowled 
him  over.  This  caused  great  excitement,  and  we 
all  scrambled  on  shore,  and  helped  the  natives  to 
clean  him  out,  preparatory  to  skinning  him  at  night. 
I  had  no  wish  to  be  beaten,  so  I  went  on  firing 


212 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


perseveringly.  Of  course  I  killed  a  great  many ! 
but  they  unkindly  took  the  burial  service  into  their 
own  hands,  and  never  failed  to  go  to  the  bottom. 
It  was  sad  from  my  point  of  view,  for  now  future 
generations  will  not  be  able  to  point  to  the  stuffed 
trophy,  and  say  with  pride,  “  That  is  the  crocodile 
our  grandmother  shot  in  Madagascar  !  ” 

It  was  nearly  dark  before  we  got  into  the  estuary 
of  the  Betsiboka,  and  as  the  tide  was  flowing,  the 
river-current  got  slower  and  slower,  until  it  was 
finally  absorbed  altogether.  Our  men  seemed  to 
make  no  progress,  and  we  were  getting  desperate, 
for  it  was  long  past  the  hour  at  which  we  should 
have  got  to  Maravoay ;  so,  seeing  a  canoe  ahead 
in  which  several  men  were  fishing,  we  made  for 
her,  and  our  simcindou  boarded  her.  A  violent  dis¬ 
cussion  ensued  between  him  and  the  men,  which 
resulted  in  his  pushing  two  of  them  into  our  canoe. 
Here,  again,  the  corvee  was  doing  its  work ;  but  we 
determined  they  should  be  paid  for  their  trouble.  As 
a  rule,  no  provision  is  made  for  their  return :  they 
take  the  traveller  to  his  destination,  and  are  there 
left  stranded  to  make  their  way  back  as  best  they 
can. 

We  saw  a  good  many  herons  and  storks  standing 
on  one  leg  in  the  water,  watching  for  their  prey ; 
and  in  the  woods  heard  the  wild  guinea-fowls  calling 
out,  “  Come  back  !  come  back  !  ”  It  was  now  nearly 
seven  o’clock,  and  still  no  signs  of  Maravoay ;  and 


BELATED  OX  THE  RIVER. 


213 


when  we  asked  our  simanclou — who  was  supposed 
to  know  the  country — how  far  it  was,  he  calmly 
answered,  “  About  as  far  before  us  as  we  were  now 
from  the  spot  where  the  crocodile  had  been  shot.” 

If  we  had  not  been  so  anxious  to  get  to  our  des¬ 
tination,  we  might  have  landed  and  shot  some  of 
the  wild  turkeys  that  were  roosting  on  the  trees  not 
far  from  the  river-bank ;  but  only  one  thought  pos¬ 
sessed  us — to  get  on ;  for  we  had  not  landed  to 
cook  any  dinner,  thinking  we  should  arrive  at  our 
destination  in  time  to  partake  of  that  meal  com¬ 
fortably.  The  bottom  of  a  dug-out  does  not  get 
softer  the  longer  one  sits  on  it,  and  having  no  room 
to  move  about,  we  had  got  terribly  cramped.  As 
darkness  set  in,  we  were  enveloped  in  clouds  of 
mosquitoes,  which  seemed  as  hungry  as  their  victims. 
The  natives  hugged  the  right  bank  for  fear  of  losing 
the  turning  into  the  narrow  river  Maravoay,  a  tribu¬ 
tary  of  the  Betsiboka.  So  near  the  edge,  the  water 
was  in  many  parts  shallow,  and  the  paddles  stirred 
up  bubbles  of  miasmic  gases,  which  were  most  up¬ 
setting.  As  we  crept  at  funeral  pace  past  that 
unending  mangrove-covered  bank,  the  hours  seemed 
to  be  getting  longer  and  longer ;  sleep  was  impos¬ 
sible,  the  maddening  song  of  the  mosquito  for  ever 
in  one’s  ear.  It  was  like  a  bad  dream,  from  which 
one  could  not  get  away.  I  longed  to  get  up  and 
walk  about,  or  even  shout  at  the  top  of  my  voice 
— anything  to  break  that  awful  monotony  ! 


214 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


At  last  we  turned  a  sharp  corner,  and  found  our¬ 
selves  in  the  long-sought-for  little  river,  up  which, 
had  we  arrived  only  an  hour  sooner,  we  should  have 
drifted  rapidly  on  the  flood;  but  now  the  tide  had 
begun  to  ebb  just  as  we  did  not  want  it,  and  our 
tired  boatmen  had  a  further  struggle  up  stream, 
which  lasted  till  two  on  the  following  morning, 

o  o 7 


Landing  at  Maravoay, 


when  the  moon,  suddenly  creeping  from  behind  a 
cloud,  disclosed  the  welcome  hill  of  Maravoay.  It 
being  now  nearly  low  water,  we  were  separated 
from  the  shore  by  a  stretch  of  deep  mud,  across 
which  the  simandou  carried  me  on  his  back.  Tired 
as  I  was  of  the  canoe,  at  one  moment  I  almost 
wished  myself  back  in  it,  as  he  sank  deeper  and 


MARAVOAY. 


215 


deeper,  stumbling  about  till  my  feet  ploughed  up 
the  black  slime,  into  which  I  fully  expected  to 
subside  altogether.  However,  with  the  help  of  two 
of  the  men,  we  at  last  found  ourselves  on  terra 
firma.  While  they  went  back  for  Harry  and 
Monsieur  Martini,  the  simandou  and  I  walked  on 
to  try  and  procure  lodgings  in  the  town,  which  was 
about  a  mile  distant.  We  accosted  the  first  human 
being  we  met ;  and  after  a  great  deal  of  talk,  he 
took  us  to  a  narrow  door  in  a  high  palisade,  round 
an  open  space,  planted  with  mango -trees,  in  the 
centre  of  which  was  a  large  two-storeyed  house. 
Our  guide  showed  us  up  a  steep  flight  of  wooden 
steps,  and  we  found  ourselves  in  a  sort  of  barn, 
divided  into  little  rooms  by  thin  partitions,  in 
which  were  a  number  of  sleeping  men,  over  whom 
we  nearly  stumbled  in  the  dark.  Our  beds  having 
arrived,  I  took  possession  of  one  of  the  rooms,  and 
by  the  time  Harry  and  Monsieur  Martini — who  had 
been  seeing  to  the  safe  landing  of  the  goods — ap¬ 
peared,  I  had  got  the  things  fairly  ready. 

Up  to  the  time  they  left  the  river-bank  there  had 
been  no  signs  of  the  other  canoe ;  so,  not  knowing 
what  might  be  in  store  for  us  on  the  following  day, 
we  turned  in,  determined  to  get  what  sleep  wTe  could. 
This  turned  out  the  wisest  thing  wTe  could  have 
done ;  for  on  the  following  morning  it  was  still 
missing,  and  had  we  sat  up  for  it,  we  should 
have  had  our  vigil  for  nothing.  We  did  not  rise 


216 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


very  early,  and  I  had  hardly  finished  dressing  when 
a  message  came  from  the  Governor  inviting  us  to 
lunch  with  him ;  hut  as  I  was  feeling  very  ill  from 
a  second  bout  of  fever,  and  Harry  did  not  wish  to 
leave  me  alone,  Monsieur  Martini  went  off  by  himself 
to  see  the  Governor,  to  try  and  get  us  off  accepting 
the  invitation.  While  he  was  away,  Harry  and  our 
cook  persuaded  a  few  natives  to  come  and  skin  the 
crocodile,  telling  them  they  would  be  paid  for  their 
work ;  but  either  they  did  not  believe  it,  or  the 
smell  of  the  reptile  was  too  much  for  them,  for  they 
soon  left  their  task  half  done,  and  it  was  only  later 
on  that  two  men  were  induced  to  finish  it  for  five 
francs  apiece. 

At  about  half-past  eleven  Monsieur  Martini  re¬ 
turned,  escorted  by  a  company  of  soldiers  and  a 
band,  and  bearing  a  second  message  from  the 
Governor  begging  us  to  accept  his  hospitality,  and 
promising  to  provide  us  that  afternoon  with  a  dhow 
to  take  us  to  Mojanga ;  so  there  was  nothing  for  it 
but  to  bestir  ourselves,  and  get  into  the  filanzanas 
that  had  been  sent  to  fetch  us.  As  we  did  so,  the 
soldiers  presented  arms,  the  band  struck  up  “  God 
save  the  Queen  ”  and  the  “  Marseillaise,”  and  then 
quite  a  grand  procession  was  formed.  In  front  were 
about  thirty  women  singing  and  dancing ;  after 
them  the  band ;  then  ourselves  on  our  filanzanas ; 
and  on  each  side  of  us  the  soldiers  in  single  file. 
Neither  of  us,  with  our  travel-stained  clothes  and 


THE  GOVERNOR  OF  MAR  A  VO  AY. 


217 


mosquito-bitten  faces,  could  have  added  much  to  the 
gorgeousness  of  the  show,  and  Harry  said  he  felt 
exactly  like  a  Guy  Fawkes  being  carried  about  on 
the  5th  of  November.  Monsieur  Martini’s  appear¬ 
ance,  however,  was  quite  equal  to  the  occasion,  and 
perched  in  the  air,  his  gorgeous  Chasseurs  d’Afrique 
uniform  glittering  in  the  sun,  he  was  quite  the  gem 
of  the  pageant. 

In  order  to  give  the  inhabitants  every  chance  of 
inspecting  us,  we  were  carried  through  the  town  at 
a  funeral  pace ;  and  it  was  a  good  half-hour  before 
we  reached  the  foot  of  the  clay-hill,  with  almost 
precipitous  sides,  on  which  the  Governor’s  quarters 
were  built.  On  reaching  the  top,  we  were  first 
ushered  into  what  looked  like  a  very  small  chalet, 
the  sitting-room  of  which  was  full  of  European 
furniture  and  ornaments — no  end  of  cheap  flower- 
glasses,  vases,  little  sets  of  liqueur-glasses,  a  china 
box  to  hold  a  sardine-tin,  &c. — while  the  walls  were 
hung  with  cliromo  -  lithographed  portraits  of  the 
crowned  heads  of  Europe.  After  waiting  some 
time,  the  Governor  —  a  “twelve-honour”  Hova — 
appeared,  dressed  in  a  black  uniform,  evidently  of 
his  own  invention,  with  a  quantity  of  gold  braid 
sewn  on  anyhow.  He  had  charming  manners,  and 
showed  the  greatest  interest  in  our  journey,  and 
plied  Monsieur  Martini  with  many  questions,  par¬ 
ticularly  wishing  to  know  how  old  we  were,  and 
if  I  had  any  children.  He  could  not  understand 


218 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


my  coming  such  a  long  way,  and  leaving  a  baby 
at  home,  he  never  having  moved  from  this  place 
for  the  last  twenty  years.  His  wife  was  ill  with 
fever,  which  seemed  to  be  very  prevalent  there,  so 
we  did  not  see  her.  After  a  few  minutes,  he 
escorted  us  across  a  little  garden,  passing  under 
a  brick  arch  of  a  curious  shape,  on  which  were 
painted  life  -  sized  figures  of  soldiers,  dressed  in 
gorgeous  uniforms,  in  the  act  of  saluting.  Over 
their  heads  was  written,  Mandrosoa,  translated  to 
us  “Welcome.”  We  found  ourselves  in  a  big  square, 
in  the  centre  of  which  was  a  large  building  used  as 
barracks,  whence  there  was  a  lovely  view  of  the 
plain  two  hundred  feet  below  us.  Through  the  centre 
of  this  wound  the  Maravoay  river  until  it  joined 
the  Betsiboka,  which  in  its  turn  could  be  seen 
emptying  itself  into  the  bay  of  the  same  name.  At 
a  doorway  in  the  centre  of  the  big  building  we  were 
received  by  three  Hova  officers,  who  led  us  to  a 
large  room,  where  on  a  long  table  lunch  was  spread 
out  European  fashion,  only  including  several  curi¬ 
ously  prepared  dishes. 

While  we  were  lunching,  two  groups  of  men  and 
women,  with  very  good  voices,  sang  alternately  on 
either  side  of  the  room,  accompanying  their  songs 
by  graceful  movements  and  gestures,  so  as  to  convey 
the  meaning  of  the  words.  When  the  leader  of  the 
band  thought  one  group  had  sung  enough  he  rang 
a  little  bell,  upon  which  one  set  of  performers  rested 


THE  GOVERNOR’S  LUNCHEON. 


219 


and  the  other  began.  The  singing,  besides  being 
very  pretty,  saved  the  necessity  of  conversation, 
which  was  a  blessing  for  Monsieur  Martini,  who  had 
to  play  the  part  of  interpreter.  I  was  placed  in  the 
seat  of  honour  opposite  the  Governor,  between  Harry 
and  our  French  lieutenant,  and  delighted  the  natives 
by  undertaking  to  carve  the  chickens  which  were 
in  front  of  me.  We  only  got  away  at  three  o’clock, 
when  the  same  procession  conducted  us  back ;  and 
on  reaching  our  house,  we  found  our  two  missing 
companions  had  turned  up,  and  were  anxiously 
awaiting  us. 

It  seemed  that  their  boatmen  had  completely 
broken  down  soon  after  sunset,  and  there  being  no 
place  to  land,  they  had  passed  a  second  night  in 
their  dug-out.  Remembering  the  miseries  that  I 
had  gone  through  during  half  the  night  in  that 
mosquito  -  haunted,  pestilential  swamp,  I  was  able 
to  give  them  my  fullest  sympathy. 

Monsieur  Cazeneuve,  feeling  very  ill,  was  all  for 
hurrying  our  departure ;  so  we  again  scrambled  up 
the  rickety  stairs  of  our  barn,  and  were  busily 
engaged  in  packing  when  about  twenty  Indian 
merchants  arrived  on  the  scene,  saying  they  had 
come  to  pay  their  respects  to  the  Englishman,  being 
themselves  British  subjects.  Having  no  chairs,  they 
all  sat  down  on  the  floor,  one  acting  as  spokesman. 
He  began  something  about  the  French,  but  Harry 
stopped  him  at  once,  saying  he  was  simply  a  travel- 


220 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


ler,  ancl  would  not  enter  into  political  questions,  and 
that  if  they  had  any  complaints  on  such  subjects  to 
make,  they  must  not  come  to  him.  They  then  had 
a  long  consultation  in  their  own  language,  at  the 
end  of  which  the  spokesman  said  that  they  had 
nothing  to  complain  of,  and  had  only  come  to  make 
us  welcome  ;  and  bowing  low,  they  retired,  much  to 
our  delight,  as  it  was  getting  late. 

We  found  great  difficulty  in  getting  men  to  carry 
the  luggage  to  the  water’s  edge,  and  the  Governor 
turned  out  to  be  a  broken  reed.  He  had  not  even 
taken  the  trouble  to  give  any  orders  with  reference  to 
our  start,  so  Monsieur  Martini  had  to  go  into  the  town 
and  find  a  reis  who  would  undertake  to  convey  us 
to  Mojanga  in  his  dhow.  As  we  were  told  that  the 
tide  would  be  high  at  five  o’clock,  we  started  at 
about  half-past  four,  carrying  most  of  the  luggage 
ourselves,  and  on  arriving  at  the  river-bank,  found 
a  wretched  little  dhow  high  and  dry  on  the  mud. 
The  reis  assured  us  the  tide  was  rising  rapidly,  and 
that  she  would  soon  be  afloat ;  but,  as  Harry  pre¬ 
dicted,  two  hours  elapsed  before  that  happened. 
However,  thinking  the  reis  ought  to  know  best,  we 
went  on  board,  and  stayed  there  till,  after  about 
half  an  hour,  the  mosquitoes  rendered  life  so  unbear¬ 
able  that  we  determined  at  any  risk  to  try  and 
escape  them.  So  wading  across  the  mud  again,  we 
settled  ourselves  down  at  some  distance  from  the 
bank,  and  lighting  a  big  bonfire,  huddled  together 


DINNER  ON  THE  BANK. 


221 


on  the  smoky  side  of  it.  In  spite  of  the  heat  and 
smoke,  we  were  all  so  relieved  at  being  temporarily 
freed  from  the  enemy,  that  we  made  a  very  cheery 
little  party  :  Monsieur  Alibert  and  Monsieur  Martini 
even  broke  into  sons;.  Before  we  had  been  there 
long,  the  voice  of  nature  reminded  us  it  was  about 
dinner  -  time ;  and  as  our  brief  experience  of  the 
dhow  had  shown  us  there  was  not  the  smallest 
chance  of  getting  a  comfortable  meal  on  board  her, 
we  settled  to  make  the  most  of  our  time  on  land. 
So  we  all  began  bustling  about  to  collect  the  neces¬ 
saries  ;  among  which,  however,  the  most  important 
— the  food — was  chiefly  conspicuous  by  its  scarcity. 
The  inhabitants  had  refused  to  sell  us  either  eggs  or 
chickens,  and  the  only  edible  forthcoming  was  a 
curiously  shaped  lump  of  beef,  which  the  cook  pro¬ 
duced  from  goodness  knows  where. 

Our  “  Tartarin,”  however,  improvised  a  magnificent 
dining-table  out  of  two  old  tar-barrels  and  a  bit  of 
corrugated  iron  roofing  which  he  discovered  some- 

Q  O 

where  in  the  neighbourhood.  We  had  just  finished 
our  meal  when  a  fresh  breeze  sprang  up,  clearing 
away  the  mosquitoes  ;  and  as  immediately  afterwards 
flashes  of  lightning  in  the  horizon  heralded  the 
approach  of  the  usual  evening  thunderstorm,  we 
packed  up  our  traps  as  quickly  as  we  could  and 
made  our  way  to  the  river,  to  find  the  dhow  afloat 
in  mid-stream,  where  it  turned  out  she  had  been  for 
some  time,  our  stupid  reis  never  having  told  us. 


222 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


We  bad  to  get  on  board  as  best  we  could,  one  by 
one,  in  a  miniature  dug-out  half  full  of  water. 
Poor  “  Tartarin,”  who  had  stayed  behind  to  see  to  the 
safe  packing  of  the  pots  and  pans,  was  the  last  to 
embark,  and  his  lantern  having  gone  out,  he  man¬ 
aged  to  step  out  of  the  canoe  into  the  water  and 
was  with  great  difficulty  fished  out  by  the  crew. 

However,  he  was  but  little  worse  off  than  the  rest 
of  us ;  for  we  had  hardly  settled  ourselves  down  on 
the  sort  of  thatched  awning  of  bamboos  and  palm- 
leaves,  the  only  available  space  on  the  dhow,  when 
the  storm  burst  upon  us,  blowing  apart  our  hastily 
donned  waterproofs,  and  wetting  us  through  in  a 
minute.  The  wind  blew  the  wretched,  top-heavy 
little  cockle-shell  over  on  to  her  side,  until  the 
awning  almost  touched  the  water,  and  we  had  to 
hold  on  like  grim  death  to  the  nearly  perpendicular 
wall  on  which  we  were  lying,  expecting  every 
minute  either  that  she  would  capsize  altogether,  or 
that,  the  rotten  thatch  giving  way,  we  should  be 
dropped  off  one  by  one  among  the  crocodiles.  The 
next  moment  the  wind  whizzed  her  round,  and 
catching  her  other  side,  sent  our  feet  into  the  air 
and  our  heads  resting  on  the  ridge-pole  towards  the 
water :  all  this  in  inky  darkness,  except  when  a 
flash  of  lightning  lit  up  the  scene  for  a  moment, 
and  showed  us  our  craft  being  blown  like  a  cork 
along  the  water,  and  revealed  the  strange  assort¬ 
ment  of  blacks  and  whites  packed  close  together, 


A  STORM. 


223 


lying  face  downwards,  with  hands  and  feet  dug 
deeply  into  the  thatch.  Even  in  the  midst  of  the 
extreme  discomfort  of  the  situation  I  could  not  help 
smiling,  as  each  succeeding  Hash  showed  me  the  row 
of  more  and  more  arched  backs  silhouetted  against 
the  sky. 

At  last  a  lull  came ;  the  storm  ceased  even  more 
quickly  than  it  had  begun,  and  all  seemed  curiously 
calm  and  silent.  Nevertheless  we  were  in  for  an 
uncomfortable  night ;  we  were  drenched  to  our 
skins ;  the  hold  of  the  dhow  was  full  of  a  confused 
mass  of  baggage,  among  which  no  room  could  be 
found  either  to  sit  or  lie ;  while  the  thatch  having 
been  torn  by  the  storm  from  our  only  resting-place, 
the  awning,  we  were  forced  to  pass  the  night  as 
best  we  could  on  a  sort  of  gridiron.  The  lazy 
natives  let  the  dhow  drift  with  the  tide,  taking  no 
trouble  to  steer  her,  so  that  we  soon  found  ourselves 
stuck  fast  in  a  mangrove-swamp,  from  which  she 
was  only  poled  off  with  a  good  deal  of  difficulty. 
After  this  we  managed  to  drop  into  an  uncomfort¬ 
able  sleep,  from  which  I  was  awakened  with  a  start 
by  an  agonised  voice  proceeding  from  the  depths 
of  the  ship,  repeating,  “  Ou  sont  mes  pantalons  ?  ” 
This  turned  out  to  come  from  poor  “  Tar  tar  in,”  who 
after  his  dip  in  the  river  had  retired  below  among 
the  baggage,  and  in  the  hopes  of  getting  them  dried 
had  taken  off  his  nether  garments ;  but  they  had 
unfortunately  been  blown  overboard  by  the  storm, 


224 


THE  ISLAND  OP  MYSTERY. 


and  he  was  forced  to  remain  in  hiding  until  daylight 
enabled  him  to  find  his  portmanteau  and  get  hold  of 
another  pair. 

As  soon  as  I  was  thoroughly  awake,  I  discovered 
that  we  were  again  at  a  stand-still,  and  the  dhow  at 
such  an  angle  that  my  feet  were  higher  than  my 
head,  while  by  the  light  of  the  moon  I  saw  that 
Harry,  who  was  on  the  other  side  of  the  ridge,  had 
his  feet  in  the  water.  Being  afraid  he  would  wake 
with  a  sudden  movement  and  slip  in  altogether,  I 
hardened  my  heart  and  woke  him,  explaining  the 
situation ;  but  rubbing  his  eyes  for  a  moment,  he 
said,  “What  does  it  matter?  we  are  moored,”  and 
went  to  sleep  again.  And  so  I  found  we  were,  the 
natives  having  taken  advantage  of  our  slumbers  to 
stop  and  rest.  This  was  the  more  annoying  as  we 
had  thus  missed  the  whole  advantage  of  the  ebb¬ 
tide,  which  had  now  run  out ;  and  there  being  no 
wind,  we  had  to  wait  the  full  six  hours’  flood 
before  we  could  make  any  progress,  although  by 
Monsieur  Martini’s  persuasions  one  or  two  feeble 
attempts  were  made  at  rowing. 

One  by  one  we  all  woke  up,  feeling  very  chilly, 
and  with  our  teeth  chattering ;  so  we  settled  to 
have  some  rum  all  round,  which  put  a  little  warmth 
into  us,  and  kept  us  going  until  the  dawn  began  to 
break.  Some  of  us  had  certainly  got  bad  chills,  and 
suffered  a  good  deal  from  acute  pain. 

I  had  been  noticing  for  some  time  that  one  of  the 


THE  COAST  AGAIN. 


225 


crew,  a  shrivelled- up  old  man,  had  been  busily  en¬ 
gaged  rigging  up  a  little  enclosure  with  a  sail,  and 
was  still  wondering  what  it  could  be  for,  when  he 
came  up  to  me  and  explained  by  signs  that  it  was 
arranged  for  me  to  take  my  wet  clothes  off.  “A 
la  guerre  comme  a  la  guerre ,”  I  gratefully  took 
advantage  of  his  kind  thought. 

At  last  the  sun  really  rose,  and  never  was  it  more 
welcome  than  it  was  to  our  little  party.  We  had 
been  told  that  we  should  reach  Mojanga  that  morn¬ 
ing  ;  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  it  was  past  noon  before 
we  reached  the  mouth  of  the  river  and  sighted  the 
town  on  the  far  side  of  Betsiboka  Bay,  a  fine  natural 
harbour,  and  quite  the  best  on  the  west  coast  of 
Madagascar.  When  we  got  into  the  bay  we  had 
the  wind  nearly  dead  against  us.  However,  by 
dint  of  shifting  the  ungainly  sail,  we  seemed  to 
make  some  little  way.  Still  our  destination  looked 
like  a  speck  on  the  horizon ;  but  we  persevered, 
until,  after  a  few  hours,  to  add  to  our  difficulties, 
we  again  got  into  a  flood-tide,  which  ran  so  strongly 
against  us  that  tacking  was  no  longer  of  any  use. 
So  the  reis  and  his  men  calmly  sat  down,  saying 
they  could  do  no  more,  and  that  wTe  must  wait 
for  the  ebb ;  which  meant  that  we  should  not 
get  in  till  the  middle  of  the  night.  I  shall  never 
forget  my  sensations  of  silent  despair  on  hearing 
this.  I  had  not  yet  really  recovered  from  my 
fever,  and  the  smell  of  the  preserved,  or  rather  un- 


226 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


preserved  meat,  which  the  natives  chewed  on  every 
possible  occasion,  had  made  me  feel  terribly  sick 
even  on  the  river ;  while  the  combination  of  a 
light  top-heavy  boat  with  the  chopping  sea  of  the 
shallow  bay  completely  finished  me.  Then  fol¬ 
lowed  six  hours  of  suffering  never  to  be  forgotten  ! 
I  felt  I  must  go  off  my  head,  and  uttering  in¬ 
voluntary  moans,  I  clutched  at  anybody  that  hap¬ 
pened  to  be  near.  Harry  tells  me  one  of  our 
simandous  seemed  very  much  astonished  when  I 
flung  my  arms  round  him  !  I  implored  them  to 
wave  signals  of  distress  to  a  ship  we  saw  steam¬ 
ing  in  towards  the  port ;  but  of  course  that  was  of 
no  use,  for  we  were  a  mere  speck  on  the  waters. 
At  last  Monsieur  Martini,  getting  quite  alarmed  at 
the  state  I  was  in,  got  the  men  to  paddle,  which  did 
little  good  till  the  tide  turned,  and  finally  landed  us 
at  Mojanga  at  10  p.m. 

Our  landing  was  done  under  great  difficulties.  It 
was  pitch-dark  ;  we  had  no  lights  ;  and  being  unable 
to  attract  the  notice  of  any  one  on  shore,  our  men 
had  to  jump  into  the  water  and  carry  us.  Monsieur 
Cazeneuve  accosted  some  French  sailors  who  were 
passing,  and  having  ascertained  that  the  ship  then 
at  anchor  in  the  harbour  was  the  one  sent  to  take 
him  to  Diego  Suarez,  proposed  that  we  should  go 
with  him  to  see  the  French  Consul — with  whom  the 
sailors  had  told  him  their  Captain  was  dining — and 
see  what  could  be  done  for  us.  We  gladly  followed 


THE  AUTHOR  ON  ARRIVAL  AT  MOJANGA. 


MO  JANG  A. 


227 


him,  and  after  roaming  about  the  streets  for  some 
time  trying  to  find  the  Consulate,  Monsieur  Martini 
stopped  at  an  Indian  merchant’s  shop  to  ask  the 
way.  They  were  extremely  rude,  and  in  an  off¬ 
hand  manner  said,  “  There  is  no  French  Consul 
here,”  at  which  Monsieur  Martini  began  abusing 
them,  only  making  them  laugh.  I  then  stepped 
forward  and  asked  them  the  same  question  in  Eng¬ 
lish,  and  got  the  idiotic  answer,  or  rather  question, 
“  Do  you  speak  English  ?  ”  to  which  I  paid  no  atten¬ 
tion,  again  asking  them  if  they  would  kindly  show 
us  the  way  to  the  French  Consulate,  feeling  in  my 
heart  that  I  could  murder  them  !  One  of  them  then 
got  up  and  sent  a  black  boy  to  be  our  guide. 

Arrived  at  the  house,  we  were  ushered  up-stairs, 
where  four  Frenchmen  were  sitting  smoking  and 
enjoying  un  grogue.  Their  expressions  when  they 
saw  us  were  amusing.  And  no  wonder !  for  we  were 
in  a  most  dilapidated  condition.  I  felt  positively 
ashamed  of  myself,  with  my  hair  hanging  down, 
partly  hidden  by  a  dirty  battered  old  helmet,  my 
clothes  looking  as  if  I  had  slept  in  them  for  a 
fortnight,  a  Malagasy  spear  in  my  right  hand,  and 
appearing,  as  well  as  feeling,  more  dead  than  alive. 
The  French  Consul  was  most  kind,  making  us  sit 
down  and  have  some  supper.  We  were  also  intro¬ 
duced  to  the  Commandant  of  the  ship,  with  whom 
Monsieur  Cazeneuve  discussed  our  plans,  telling 
him  of  our  anxiety  to  get  back  to  Africa  as  soon  as 


228 


THE  ISLAND  OF  MYSTERY. 


possible,  so  as  to  catch  the  next  English  coasting- 
boat,  which  we  knew  was  to  touch  at  Mozambique 
in  a  few  days.  The  French  Consul  having  told  him 
we  might  be  here  for  weeks  without  finding  any 
opportunity  of  getting  away,  he  decided  it  would 
not  cause  him  any  great  delay  to  take  us  across. 
Our  difficulties  were  at  once  swept  away,  and  our 
gratitude  knew  no  bounds. 

The  Consul’s  filanzanas  had  been  brought  round, 
and  we  were  just  starting  for  the  ship  when  I 
suddenly  discovered  that  the  crocodile  was  being 
forgotten ;  so  going  into  the  room  where  the  lug¬ 
gage  had  been  collected,  we  were  nearly  bowled 
over  by  the  smell  proceeding  from  the  precious 
trophy.  The  poor  Commandant  smiled  a  sickly 
smile  when  he  was  asked  to  take  it  on  board ;  but 
he  very  good-naturedly  agreed  to  do  so,  taking  the 
precaution,  however,  as  soon  as  he  got  it,  of  having 
it  carefully  nailed  down  in  a  packing-case  full  of 
salt.  After  bidding  an  affectionate  farewell  to 
Monsieur  Martini,  who  was  returning  to  the  capital 
by  another  route,  we  made  our  way  to  the  ship’s 
boats,  and  were  soon  comfortably  settled  on  board. 


229 


BOOK  y. 

THE  LAND  OF  SLEEP, 

We  sailed  from  Mojanga  at  five  the  next  morning 
—Saturday,  December  8th — and  arrived  at  Mozam¬ 
bique  the  evening  of  the  following  day.  To  our  joy, 
as  we  steamed  into  the  harbour  we  found  the  Eng¬ 
lish  coasting-steamer  “  Courland  ”  (of  the  “  Castle  ” 
line)  at  anchor,  and  were  at  once  taken  on  board 
her  by  the  Commandant  to  see  if  we  could  procure 
a  cabin.  The  Captain  being  ill,  the  purser  did  the 
honours  ;  and  having  told  us  they  had  plenty  of 
room,  and  were  only  to  sail  the  following  afternoon, 
our  kind  Commandant  invited  us  to  remain  on  his 
ship  that  night. 

Next  morning,  having  taken  leave  of  our  French 
friends,  we  went  on  shore  to  get  our  tickets  from 
the  agent.  Mozambique  looks  a  clean  but  sleepy 
little  town,  with  its  white  houses  built  close  together, 
forming  narrow  shady  streets.  We  landed  at  the 
well-built  pier,  which  took  us  on  to  a  -wide  boule¬ 
vard,  planted  at  regular  intervals  with  the  beauti- 


230 


THE  LAND  OF  SLEEP. 


ful  flat-topped,  scarlet-flowered  flamboyant  acacia. 
Near  this  was  the  agent’s  house,  where  it  took 
us  a  good  quarter  of  an  hour  to  rouse  anybody. 
Having  done  so,  and  obtained  what  we  wTanted, 
we  walked  through  the  streets,  full  of  little  shops, 
which  I  inspected  with  care,  in  the  hopes  of  buying 
some  curiosities.  I  found  nothing  but  the  bare  and 
uninteresting  necessaries  of  life,  all  in  the  hands  of 
the  Indian  merchants,  who  looked  only  a  degree 
less  sleepy  than  their  landlords  the  Portuguese. 
Having  no  object  in  visiting  the  numerous  churches, 
and  the  heat  having  become  intense,  we  went 
straight  to  our  new  ship. 

I  was  prepared  to  find  the  crocodile  again  a  source 
of  difficulty,  for  his  covering  of  salt  having  partially 
melted,  his  odour  had  become  decidedly  obnoxious. 
I  warned  Harry  I  was  ready  to  have  a  good  fight, 
if  necessary,  to  get  the  box  on  board ;  and  seeing 
the  Captain  at  the  top  of  the  companion-ladder,  I 
walked  straight  up  to  him  —  a  native  carrying  the 
crocodile  behind  me  —  and  chaffingly  said  that  the 
contents  of  this  box  -were  so  precious  that  if  he 
wished  to  have  us  on  board  he  must  take  it  also, 
assuring  him  that  if  only  he  would  provide  me  with 
more  salt  he  would  never  be  aware  of  its  existence. 
He  laughed  and  was  really  most  kind,  ordering  one 
of  his  men  to  open  the  box  and  refill  it  with  salt. 
I  honestly  confess  I  was  glad  the  job  did  not  fall  to 
my  lot ! 


231 


PASSENGERS  BY  THE  “  COUBLAND.” 

Having  settled  all  our  tilings  in  the  cabin,  we  had 
a  good  look  round  at  our  fellow-passengers,  most  of 
them  Portuguese  except  two  Arabs,  one  of  whom 
turned  out  to  be  the  Vizir  of  the  Sultan  of  J ohanna 
— one  of  the  Comoro  Islands — who  seemed  to  have 
some  grievance  against  the  French,  but  what  it  was 
I  never  could  exactly  make  out.  He  told  Harry 
that  they  had  taken  his  country,  in  which  his  wife 
and  children  still  were,  and  that  if  he  went  back  to 
get  them  out,  he  was  sure  the  French  would  cut  off 
his  head.  To  me,  however,  he  told  quite  a  different 
story,  that  his  wife  and  children  were  at  Cape  Town 
looking  after  a  shop,  which  was  doing  very  well,  and 
that  he  intended  soon  to  go  to  France  to  interview 
the  French  President  and  get  redress.  Whatever 
the  merits  of  his  case  may  have  been,  he  was  a  fine 
old  man,  and  seemed  to  have  seen  a  good  deal  of  the 
world. 

After  two  days  in  smooth  water,  we  arrived  off 
the  bar  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kwa  Kwa  river — twelve 
miles  up  which  lies  the  town  of  Quilimane — a  for¬ 
midable-looking  mass  of  surf  as  I  viewed  it  from 
the  bridge,  but  which  did  not  give  us  any  trouble  ; 
and  after  running  the  gauntlet  of  the  breakers  for 
a  few  minutes,  we  found  ourselves  in  smooth  water, 
and  were  boarded  by  the  pilot,  who  had  taken  good 
care  not  to  offer  his  services  until  all  chances  of 
his  having  to  risk  his  life  had  passed.  A  couple 
of  hours’  run  up  a  broad  river,  lined  with  swampy 


232 


THE  LAND  OF  SLEEP. 


mangrove-covered  banks,  brought  us  abreast  of  the 
town  of  Quilimane,  off  which  we  anchored.  During 
our  passage  up  we  passed  several  hippopotami ;  but 
in  spite  of,  or  perhaps  in  consequence  of,  their 
assuming  the  familiar  Zoological  Garden  pose  with 


The  Quilimane  Pilot. 


only  two  nostrils  and  the  bump  of  veneration  in 
view,  I  should  certainly  have  failed  to  recognise 
them  had  not  the  Captain  pointed  them  out  to  me. 
Soon  after  casting  anchor,  the  Vice  -  Consul  came 


QUILIMANE. 


233 


on  board,  and  saying  we  should  be  devoured  by 
mosquitoes  if  we  stayed  on  the  ship,  very  kindly  in¬ 
vited  us  to  stay  with  him  during  the  forty  -  eight 
hours  she  remained  there.  So  putting  a  few  things 
into  a  small  bag,  we  accompanied  him  ashore,  where 
we  were  promptly  pounced  upon  by  the  Portuguese 
custom  -  house  officials,  who  insisted  on  searching 
into  every  corner  of  our  diminutive  piece  of  baggage. 
Passing  through  the  broad  boulevards — planted  with 
palms  and  flamboyants — of  the  scrupulously  clean 
but  deserted-looking;  little  town,  we  arrived  at  the 
pretty  palm-fringed  garden  in  the  middle  of  which 
is  built  the  British  Consulate.  Here  our  host  and 
his  young  wife  made  us  thoroughly  comfortable, 
and  there  being'  but  little  to  see  in  the  immediate 
neighbourhood  of  Quilimane,  we  enjoyed  a  thorough 
rest,  and  at  the  same  time  learnt  much  that  was 
then  new  and  interesting  of  the  geography  and  pol¬ 
itics  of  that  part  of  Africa,  though  recent  changes, 
both  in  the  maps  and  the  political  situation,  have 
now  made  all  that  we  then  heard  completely  out  of 
date.  There  was  one  bit  of  information,  however, 
which  I  obtained  from  a  prospectus  of  the  African 
Lakes  Company,  shown  me  by  our  host,  which 
completely  astonished  me,  and  may  still  have  the 
same  effect  on  many  of  my  readers — viz.,  that  it 
was  possible  to  take,  at  the  offices  of  the  Company 
in  England,  a  through  ticket  for  one’s  self  and 
baggage  from  London  to  Lake  Tanganyika. 


234 


THE  LAND  OF  SLEEP. 


We  left  Quilimane  early  on  Friday,  our  Captain 
being  anxious  to  get  to  Chiloane  the  following 
morning,  as  the  bar  at  the  latter  place  would  be 
impassable  late  in  the  day ;  but,  as  it  turned  out, 
we  might  have  passed  several  more  hours  comfort¬ 
ably  in  bed  at  the  British  Consulate  without  caus¬ 
ing  any  delay ;  for  after  a  sultry  afternoon,  during 
which  the  glass  fell  steadily,  a  storm  burst  on  us  at 
about  sunset  with  so  many  ominous  signs  that  our 
Captain,  fearing  a  cyclone,  stood  out  to  sea,  where 
we  passed  the  whole  of  the  next  very  miserable 
day.  Early  on  Sunday  morning,  the  weather 
having  begun  to  improve,  wTe  stood  in,  and  soon 
after  noon  crossed  the  bar  without  any  further 
difficulties  than  the  usual  ones  caused  by  shifting 
sands,  and  the  absence  of  the  buoys,  perpetually 
promised  but  never  provided  by  the  Portuguese 
authorities. 

The  town  of  Chiloane  is  situated  on  the  inland 
end  of  the  island  of  the  same  name  ;  but  on  account 
of  the  shallowness  of  the  channel,  big  ships  have  to 
anchor  just  inside  the  bar.  Opposite  our  anchorage 
on  the  island  was  a  small  Government  building,  in 
which  goods  from  the  interior  are  collected  for  ship¬ 
ment,  and  as  we  had  been  expected  the  day  before, 
our  cargo  was  ready  to  be  put  on  board  at  once ; 
and  after  only  a  few  hours’  delay  we  steamed  out 
to  sea  again — rather  a  disappointment  to  me,  as  I 
had  been  hoping  for  a  chance  of  running  up  the 


INHAMBANE. 


235 


river  and  seeing  the  town,  and  also  had  been  looking 
forward  to  a  quiet  night. 

The  following  evening  we  anchored  off  Inhambane, 
whose  houses,  dazzlingly  white  in  the  moonlight, 
looked  very  picturesque  between  a  dark  background 
of  feathery  palms  and  the  belt  of  silvery  ripples 
which  separated  them  from  us.  The  next  morning 
we  amused  ourselves  watching  some  splendid  turtle 
swimming  about  all  round  the  ship ;  for  the  heat 
was  so  stifling  that  wTe  had  to  wait  till  late  in  the 
afternoon  before  we  went  ashore,  when,  accompanied 
by  the  Captain,  vre  took  a  stroll  in  the  town. 

The  houses,  painted  in  various  colours,  give  the 
town  a  bright  appearance,  but  it  has  nevertheless 
a  very  deserted  look  :  grass  grows  up  between  every 
chink  in  the  paving-stones  in  the  streets  of  the 
European  part  of  the  town ;  while  the  roads  in  the 
native  quarter  —  never  properly  made  —  are  now 
wholly  neglected,  and  over  ankle  -  deep  in  fine 
wfliite  dust.  The  outskirts,  however,  are  decidedly 
pretty,  consisting  of  groups  of  beehive  -  shaped 
Kaffir  kraals,  shaded  by  palms  and  acacias,  and 
each  enclosed  in  high  palisades  of  bamboo  inter¬ 
laced  with  palm-branches.  We  walked  into  one  of 
these  enclosures,  where  a  group  of  women  were 
collected,  who  laughed  and  talked  most  amiably 
with  our  Captain.  I  wanted  very  much  to  see  the 
interior  of  a  little  hut,  and  was  just  peeping  in  when 
one  of  the  women  rushed  up,  putting  herself  be- 


236 


THE  LAND  OF  SLEEP. 


tween  me  and  the  entrance.  On  being  asked  why 
she  would  not  let  me  have  a  look  round,  she  ex¬ 
plained  that  if  she  let  strangers  go  in  the  whole  of 
her  family  would  be  sure  to  fall  ill,  apparently  look¬ 
ing  on  us  as  possessors  of  the  evil  eye.  Beyond  the 
suburbs  the  road  ran  between  high  hedges  of  creep¬ 
ing  asparagus — well  known  in  English  greenhouses 
— and  farther  on  were  palm-groves  and  a  number 
of  small  trees,  in  size  and  growth  somewhat  like 
the  English  crab-apple,  bearing  a  fruit  resembling 
a  small  shrivelled-up  apple,  of  a  brilliant  red-and- 
yellow  hue,  with  at  the  end  a  hard  excrescence, 
which  I  can  only  compare,  from  its  shape,  to  a  big 
haricot  bean,  and  which,  I  was  told,  was  a  species 
of  nut  very  good  to  eat  when  it  was  fried. 

After  two  days  at  sea,  during  which  I  had  a 
return  of  my  Madagascar  fever,  we  steamed  on  the 
morning  of  the  20th  of  December  into  Delagoa 
Bay — a  magnificent  harbour,  and  indeed  the  only 
good  natural  one  on  this  coast,  and  which  only 
requires  the  addition  of  a  few  buoys  and  beacons 
to  make  the  entrance  a  perfectly  simple  matter. 
At  nine  we  anchored  off  Lorenzo  Marquez,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  English  river,  and  on  its  left  bank. 
The  town  is  by  far  the  most  prosperous-looking  of 
the  Portuguese  East  African  possessions,  and  cer¬ 
tainly  its  appearance  does  not  justify  its  evil  sani¬ 
tary  reputation.  The  houses  are  mostly  large  and 
well  built,  and  arranged  round  airy  squares  or  broad 


INHAMBANE. 


LORENZO  MARQUEZ. 


237 


boulevards,  well  planted  with  eucalyptus.  Ou  the 
east  and  north-east  it  is  open  to  the  full  force  of  the 
sea-breeze ;  while  above  it,  to  the  west,  rises  a  high 
escarpment,  apparently  a  perfect  site  for  residential 
dwellings.  The  terminus  of  the  then  unfinished 
Transvaal  Railway,  situated  on  the  river-bank,  and 
surrounded  with  lighters  full  of  stores,  gave  to  the 
place  an  air  of  life  and  work  which  is  wholly  want¬ 
ing  in  the  other  seaports  of  this  colony. 

Soon  after  anchoring  we  landed,  and  after  walking 
through  the  big  square,  named  after  the  inevitable 
Yasco  da  Gama — whose  name  meets  one  at  every 
turn  on  this  coast — and  marching  up  and  down 
two  or  three  dusty  glaring  streets,  we  reached  the 
British  Consul’s  house.  Once  there,  we  found  our¬ 
selves  so  comfortable,  and  Captain  Drummond — the 
Consul— so  hospitable,  that  we  managed  to  while 
away  the  greater  part  of  the  day  in  the  broad 
verandah. 

Towards  the  cool  of  the  evening,  Captain  Drum¬ 
mond  having  mounted  us,  we  rode  oil’  to  call  on 
Mr  Knee,  manager  of  the  Delagoa  Bay  -  Transvaal 
Railway.  We  soon  reached  the  swamp  which  separ¬ 
ates  the  town  from  the  high  land,  and  which  is  the 
chief  cause  of  the  former’s  unhealthiness.  Nearly 
all  the  Portuguese  towns  are  built  either  on  islands, 
or  on  land  protected  by  swamps  from  landward 
attack.  All  danger  of  this  has  now  passed ;  and 
the  swamp  is  now  Lorenzo  Marquez’s  worst  enemy. 


238 


THE  LAXD  OF  SLEEP. 


The  authorities  are  filling  it  up  as  fast  as  they 
can ;  but  the  work  will  take  considerable  time  be¬ 
fore  it  is  completed.  Crossing  the  swamp  by  a 
broad  causeway,  a  good  road — the  first  I  had  seen 
since  leaving  Aden — led  up  the  head  of  the  bluff, 
and  took  us  on  to  an  extensive  plateau  command¬ 
ing  a  magnificent  view  of  the  town,  harbour,  and 
country  to  the  east  and  south-east.  On  the  edge 
of  this,  surrounded  by  a  pretty  park,  was  Mr  Knee’s 
house,  where  we  were  most  kindly  received,  and 
where  we  also  met  Colonel  M'Murdo,  who  held  the 
Government  contract.  Hearing  that  we  intended 
to  visit  the  Transvaal,  Mr  Knee  kindly  offered  to 
send  us  up  by  rail  to  Komati  Poort,  and  thence 
in  his  own  mule-cart  to  Barberton,  where  we  could 
catch  the  Johannesburg  coach.  The  trip  would  have 
been  a  most  interesting  one,  and  we  were  greatly 
tempted  to  accept  his  offer ;  but  as  all  our  baggage 
and  some  important  letters  were  awaiting  us  at  Dur¬ 
ban,  we  were  reluctantly  forced  to  decline  it. 

Mr  Knee  had  the  most  interesting  collection  of 
Kaffir  curiosities,  which  delighted  me ;  and  also 
some  lovely  seeds  quite  new  to  me.  They  are  about 
the  size  of  an  ordinary  acorn,  but  three-sided,  one  of 
these  sides  being  much  flatter  than  the  other  two ; 
and  at  the  end  where  the  acorn’s  cup  would  come 
is  a  beautiful  scarlet  top,  which  does  not  shed  the 
seed  as  the  cup  does  the  acorn,  and  always  retains 
its  colour. 


THE  NATAL  COAST. 


239 


On  the  following  morning  we  started  at  daylight, 
and  after  a  thirty  hours’  steam  sighted  the  Natal 
coast,  whose  slopes,  divided  into  fields  and  covered 
with  cultivation,  formed  a  remarkable  contrast  to 
the  untended  growths  of  nature  to  which  we  had  so 
long  been  accustomed. 


240 


BOOK  VI. 

THE  LAND  OF  GOLD. 

Soon  after  noon  on  December  the  2 2d  we  cast 
anchor  in  Durban  Roads,  and  the  tide  being  too 
low  to  allow  of  the  “  Courland  ”  crossing  the  bar, 
we  decided  to  go  ashore  in  the  tug  which  was 
soon  seen  approaching  us,  alternately  balanced  at 
the  top  of  an  enormous  breaker,  and  then  apparently 
disappearing  under  the  water.  The  prospect  was  cer¬ 
tainly  not  an  inviting  one,  but  anything  was  better 
than  the  roll  of  the  ship  as  she  lay  at  anchor ;  so, 
stepping  into  a  sort  of  bird-cage  hung  from  a  derrick, 
I  soon  found  myself  swinging  in  the  air  over  the 
tug,  which  at  one  moment  was  yards  below  me,  at 
the  next  almost  touching  my  cage.  A  favourable 
opportunity  being  chosen  when  she  remained  for  a 
moment  stationary  on  the  top  of  a  wave,  the  cage 
was  suddenly  lowered,  seized  by  the  crew  of  the 
tug,  and  unhooked.  Then  followed  an  incessant 
rearing,  kicking,  and  bucking  of  the  tug,  until  we 
found  ourselves  gliding  through  the  smooth  water 


THE  CROCODILE  AGAIN. 


241 


of  Durban  harbour,  ancl  a  few  minutes  later  were 
made  fast  to  the  wharf  at  the  Point. 

We  had  hoped  to  get  to  Durban  early,  draw 
some  money  from  the  bank,  and  go  on  to  Maritz- 
burg  by  the  afternoon  train  ;  but  it  took  so  long  to 
collect  our  luo-o-ao-e,  which  had  been  sent  on  from 
Tamatave,  that  it  was  late  in  the  afternoon  before 
we  got  into  the  towm,  and  being  Saturday,  the 
banks  were  closed :  so  we  had  to  stay  on  till 
Monday. 

As  the  crocodile  was  a  positive  nuisance,  and  we 
thought  that  we  should  have  no  further  use  for  our 
two  camp-beds,  wTe  handed  all  three  to  the  inn¬ 
keeper,  asking  him  to  have  the  former  properly 
dressed,  and  to  send  the  latter  to  England.  It 
happened  that  we  met  him  again  in  Cape  Town, 
where  he  had  come  on  a  trip,  when  he  told  us 
that  he  had  mistaken  the  two  parcels,  and  sent 
the  beds  to  the  bird-stuffer,  from  whom  he  had 
had  a  message  saying  that  he  could  stuff  most 
things,  but  that  camp  -  beds  were  quite  out  of 
his  line.  I  do  not  know  whether  he  attempted 
to  do  so  and  failed ;  but  whatever  the  cause,  the 
camp-beds  have  not  yet  turned  up,  although  the 
crocodile  arrived  safely  in  due  course,  and  is  now 
reposing  in  an  outhouse  at  home,  still  smelling  as 
energetically  as  ever ! 

We  were  met  at  Maritzburg  by  Harry’s  friend 
Mr  Matterson,  to  whom  we  had  telegraphed  news  of 

Q 


242 


THE  LAND  OF  GOLD. 


our  arrival,  and  who  invited  us  to  stay  with  him 
and  his  wife.  Gladly  acceptiug  his  invitation,  we 
spent  a  happy  fortnight  in  their  pretty  little  house 
outside  the  town. 

During  our  stay  we  “  did  ”  the  neighbourhood 
thoroughly  in  our  host’s  “spider”;  and  one  day 
having  been  lent  the  Commissariat  waggonette  by 
Colonel  Curtis  —  commanding  the  troops  —  Harry 
and  I  drove  over  to  Falkland  to  visit  some  old 
friends  of  his  whom  he  had  not  seen  since  he  had 
been  on  the  Staff  in  Natal.  The  road  ran  for  many 
miles  across  the  veldt,  with  here  and  there  only  a 
track  to  guide  us  over  the  succession  of  steep  grass- 
covered  hills,  whose  monotony  was  only  broken  by 
an  occasional  Kaffir  kraal.  It  was  the  wildest  spot 
imaginable  —  the  little  house  covered  with  vines, 
surrounded  by  a  garden  where  flowers  and  shrubs 
grew  luxuriantly  at  their  own  sweet  will.  The 
hostess  being  a  great  invalid,  our  host  did  the 
honours,  and  walked  us  off  to  see  his  ostrich-farm, 
which  was  extremely  interesting ;  but  I  cannot  say 
I  found  these  tall  ungainly  birds  attractive.  He 
said  it  did  not  then  pay,  as  there  was  no  market 
for  the  feathers.  He  then  proposed  to  lend  us  two 
ponies  if  we  cared  to  ride  some  distance  off  to  see 
the  banks  of  the  Umgeni  river,  an  offer  I  gladly 
accepted.  While  the  black  servant  was  putting  the 
saddles  on,  our  host  and  his  daughter  brought  out 
two  large  bags  of  feathers,  and  chose  a  handful  of 


KAFFIR  KRAAL,  NATAL. 


A  RIDE  TO  THE  UMGENI. 


243 


lovely  black  ones  with  white  tips  for  me  to  have 
made  up  when  I  got  home. 

The  ponies  ready,  off  we  started.  As  it  was  get¬ 
ting  late,  and  a  storm  was  brewing,  we  galloped  all 
the  way,  and  finally  reached  the  edge  of  a  precipice 
overlooking  the  lovely  gorge  through  which  the 
Umgeni  here  cuts  its  way.  Opposite  us,  at  the  dis¬ 
tance  of  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile,  an  overhang¬ 
ing  red  cliff,  about  on  a  level  with  that  on  which  we 
were  standing,  separated  the  rolling  expanse  of  veldt 
from  a  steep  bush-covered  slope,  radiant  with  every 
possible  shade  of  green,  and  at  that  distance  looking 
like  a  soft  bed  of  variegated  moss.  Below  this  ao;ain 
was  a  strip  of  gigantic  boulders,  among  which  the 
Umgeni — five  hundred  feet  beneath  us — foamed  and 
tumbled,  or  collected  into  glassy  pools,  reflecting 
every  shade  of  the  neighbouring  foliage,  and  finally 
disappeared  a  couple  of  miles  to  the  east  round  the 
corner  of  a  huge  red  bluff.  On  our  side  of  the  river 
the  same  gradations  of  boulder,  bush,  and  precipice 
were  repeated,  but,  seen  from  a  bird’s-eye  point  of 
view  and  at  a  shorter  distance,  assumed  a  totally 
different  aspect,  the  green  tree-tops,  as  we  peered 
down  upon  them  from  the  overhanging  cliff,  look¬ 
ing  like  a  huge  creeper-covered  trellis  spread  to 
save  wayfarers  from  falling  into  the  inky  darkness 
below. 

As  we  rode  back  again,  we  suddenly  heard  terrific 
bellowing.  Away  to  our  right  stretched  long  slopes 


244 


THE  LAND  OF  GOLD. 


of  hilly  pasture,  on  which  great  herds  of  cattle  were 
feeding.  Two  of  these  herds,  each  headed  by  a  bull 
of  immense  size,  were  advancing;  towards  each  other, 
the  leaders  preparing  for  battle,  pawing  the  ground 
and  tossing  their  heads.  The  loneliness  all  round, 
the  gloomy  sky  overhead,  and  the  evening  creeping- 
in,  combined  to  produce  an  uncanny  feeling,  mixed 
with  a  sort  of  superstitious  awe.  I  was  glad  when 
I  found  myself  back  in  the  waggonette  driving 
homewards,  though  by  that  time  night  had  fallen 
and  the  storm  had  burst.  It  was  all  I  could  do 
to  hold  the  horses,  terrified  as  they  were  by  the 
flashes  of  lightning  which  from  time  to  time  lit 
up  the  scene.  Somehow  we  eventually  got  back 
safe,  though  we  had  several  times  missed  the  track 
in  the  dark. 

One  night  Harry  and  I  dined  at  Government 
House  with  Sir  Arthur  and  Lady  Havelock ;  and 
another  night  Mr  Matterson  got  up  a  Zulu  dance 
for  our  amusement,  which  was  performed  by  his 
Kaffirs.  It  took  place  in  the  garden,  a  lamp  having- 
been  arranged  so  as  to  throw  a  light  on  the  dusky 
group,  who,  with  torches  in  their  hands,  and  clad 
in  Highland  costume  minus  the  kilt,  stood  in  a 
semicircle ;  and  while  one  came  forward  and  exe¬ 
cuted  a  strange  war-dance,  the  others  clapped  their 
hands,  uttering  curious  sounds,  and  clicking  their 
tongues  as  an  accompaniment. 

After  passing  Christmas  and  New  Year  with  our 


THROUGH  NATAL. 


245 


friends,  we  started  on  tire  7tli  of  January,  after 
dinner,  and  arrived  at  the  terminus  of  the  line, 
Elandslaagte,  at  seven  the  following  morning.  Two 
coaches  were  waiting  ready  to  start ;  so,  having  se¬ 
cured  the  box-seat  for  me,  we  hurried  back  to  the 
train  to  see  after  our  luggage.  Great  was  our 
dismay  at  finding  that  no  portmanteau  was  forth¬ 
coming.  They  assured  us  it  must  have  been  taken 
out  by  mistake  at  Ladysmith;  so  after  telegraph¬ 
ing-  to  the  stationmaster  asking;  him  to  forward 
it  by  the  Harrismith  coach  on  to  Johannesburg, 
we  started  with  just  what  we  stood  in,  besides 
Harry’s  dressing-bag.  By  great  ill  luck,  just  as 
we  were  leaving  Maritzburg  on  the  previous  even¬ 
ing,  Harry’s  master-key  had  stuck  in  the  lock, 
which  we  had  to  break  open ;  and  being  in  a  great 
hurry  to  catch  the  train,  I  had  forgotten  to  take  out 
my  diamonds,  which  I  had  foolishly  brought  with 
me.  On  learning  that  they  would  have  to  travel 
all  through  the  Transvaal  after  us  in  an  unlocked 
portmanteau,  I  quite  made  up  my  mind  that  I  had 
seen  the  last  of  them. 

Our  small  coach,  or  rather  post-cart,  with  two 
wheels  and  no  springs,  was  driven  by  a  fat,  cheery 
old  man  called  Hans,  full  of  chaff,  and  for  ever 
talking  to  his  six  horses.  After  travelling  for  some 
hours  over  a  comparatively  smooth  road,  we  break¬ 
fasted  at  the  “Fox  and  Grapes”  Inn;  after  which 
our  team  was  increased  by  two,  and  the  road  be- 


246 


THE  LAND  OF  GOLD. 


came  rougher,  with  frequent  steep  hills.  In  the 
afternoon  a  farm  on  the  hillside,  not  far  from 


Zulu  Dresses ,  Ornaments ,  etc . 


1.  Zulu  walking-stick. 

2.  Necklace. 

3.  Copper-wire  bangles. 

4.  Wooden  necklace. 

5.  Woman’s  girdle. 


6.  Girl’s  girdle. 

7.  Seed  snuff-box. 

8.  Waist-band. 

9.  Puff-adder  skin. 

10.  Bead  necklace. 


11.  Bead  waist-band. 

12.  Snuff-boxes. 

13.  Reimpji. 

14.  Girl’s  girdle. 


MAJUBA  HILL. 


247 


the  road,  was  pointed  out  to  me  as  having  be¬ 
longed  to  Mr  Rider  Haggard.  Directly  after  this 
we  drove  down  a  slope  at  a  great  pace  into  New¬ 
castle,  a  small  town  of  slightly  built  houses  mostly 
roofed  with  corrugated  iron,  and  which  owes  its  name 
to  the  coal  found  there.  After  securing  rooms  in 
the  “  Plough  ”  Hotel,  we  went  out  to  try  and  buy  a 
few  necessaries  ;  but  articles  of  clothing  for  me  were 
impossible  to  find. 

Five  o’clock  the  next  morning  saw  us  galloping 
off  again,  and  at  about  nine  we  forded  the  river 
Ingogo,  which,  thanks  to  the  recent  dry  weather, 
was  fairly  low.  A  little  farther  on  we  came  to  the 
foot  of  Majuba  Hill,  barren,  steep,  and  rocky,  and 
bringing  back  bitter  recollections  on  which  it  is  use¬ 
less  to  dwell;  and  shortly  afterwards  we  drove  over 
Lang’s  Nek,  an  insignificant  little  roll  in  the  ground, 
which  made  one  wonder  how  it  could  ever  have  been 
such  an  impassable  obstacle.  We  halted  for  break¬ 
fast  at  Mount  Prospect  Farm,  a  nice  little  house,  well 
sheltered  by  big  trees,  where  the  peace  was  signed 
between  the  English  and  the  Boers.  Some  way  off 
was  pointed  out  to  us  a  little  improvised  cemetery 
where  Sir  George  Colley  is  buried. 

At  about  twelve  o’clock  we  reached  Michelson’s 
Store,  situated  on  the  open  veldt,  and  the  frontier 
station  of  the  Transvaal.  He  was  described  to  me 
as  a  Polish  Jew,  who  had  begun  life  hawking  cheap 
jewellery  up  the  country,  and  had  made  an  enormous 


248 


THE  LAND  OP  GOLD. 


fortune  in  golcl-mining  speculations,  with  which  he 
intended  to  take  London  by  storm.  In  front  of  his 
store  is  the  Boer  monument,  erected,  as  the  inscrip¬ 
tion  on  one  side  of  it  tells,  by  the  “  Burghers  of 
Wakkerstroom,  in  grateful  memory  of  countrymen 
who  died  fighting  for  freedom.”  On  each  of  its 
other  three  faces  is  a  list  of  those  killed  at  Lang’s 
Nek,  Ingogo,  and  Majuba — i.e.,  eight  at  Lang’s  Nek, 
fourteen  at  Ingogo,  and  two  at  Majuba.  Oddly 
enough,  a  little  inscription  at  the  base  told  that 
it  had  been  made  by  the  enemy — J.  Smith,  of 
Pietermaritzburg.  At  Ingogo  there  is  also  a  monu¬ 
ment  of  exactly  the  same  shape,  bearing  a  terribly 
long  list  of  English  names  on  its  four  sides. 

Our  post-cart  was  now  emptied,  and  everything 
transferred  to  what  they  call  the  “bus,”  a  sort  of 
roughly-made  waggonette  with  a  round-topped  hood 
open  at  either  end,  in  which  a  kind  man  gave  me  up 
the  box-seat.  I  quite  mourned  the  loss  of  the  fat  old 
Hans,  his  successor  being  gloomy  and  uninteresting. 
About  four  o’clock  we  stopped  at  one  of  the  halt¬ 
ing-places,  in  a  dirty  little  shanty,  on  unsheltered 
open  ground,  where  a  Dutch  family  gave  us  some 
squashy  bread,  and  pale-brown  hot  water  which 
they  insisted  on  calling  “  coffee  ” ;  for  which 
luxuries  they  made  us  pay  an  exorbitant  price. 
During  the  afternoon  a  heavy  storm  came  on,  and 
when  we  reached  the  Vaal -drift  the  river  was  in 
such  strong  flood  that  the  driver  at  first  thought 


STANDERTON. 


249 


there  was  too  much  water  to  risk  the  crossing.  He 
hardened  his  heart,  however,  and  by  the  skin  of  our 
teeth  we  got  through  all  right,  the  horses  swimming 
their  hardest  against  the  current,  which  was  drifting 
the  coach  away  from  them,  knocking  its  wheels 
against  the  rocks,  and  threatening  to  turn  it  over 
at  any  moment.  The  last  miles  of  the  drive  were 
across  vast  grassy  plains,  so  that  the  pitch-darkness 
that  surrounded  us  did  not  make  us  miss  much  of 
interest.  That  afternoon  we  saw  a  good  many 
widow-birds,  curiously  tail-heavy,  but  still  very 
attractive  in  their  deep  mourning.  We  reached 
Standerton  in  the  Transvaal  at  nine,  and  put  up  at 
the  “Blue  Peter”  Hotel. 

We  had  been  told  we  must  start  the  next  morning 
at  three,  and  a  little  before  that  hour  we  were  all 
suddenly  awakened  by  a  horn,  which  we  took  as  a 
signal  that  the  coach  was  only  waiting  for  the  pas¬ 
sengers  to  start.  While  we  were  sitting  in  the  bar 
waiting  for  some  hot  coffee,  a  man  with  a  woman, 
evidently  just  arrived,  walked  through.  The  inn¬ 
keeper  then  explained  that  the  horn  we  had  heard 
was  that  of  the  up-country  coach,  which  had  just 
come  in,  having  lost  its  way  in  the  storm,  and  that 
ours  would  not  start  before  five  o’clock ;  so,  with 
many  grumbles  at  being  stirred  up  before  our  time, 
we  returned  to  our  room,  which,  much  to  our 
disgust,  we  found  in  the  possession  of  the  new¬ 
comers,  to  whom  our  cute  landlord  had  promptly 


250 


THE  LAND  OF  GOLD. 


let  it,  thus  pocketing  four  charges  for  “  apartments  ” 
for  about  six  hours’  use  of  his  wretched  little  cabin. 
We  therefore  had  to  content  ourselves  with  two  hard 
chairs  in  the  sitting-room,  the  sofa  and  the  floor 
being  already  occupied  with  sound  sleepers,  and 
cold  and  'tired  as  we  were,  there  spent  two  long 
weary  hours. 

The  up-country  landlord  of  South  Africa  is  about 
the  most  remarkable  specimen  of  his  class  that  I 
have  ever  come  across ;  and  I  can  quite  believe  the 
story  told  of  an  inexperienced  traveller,  who,  finding 
neither  milk  nor  sugar  with  which  to  flavour  his 
coffee  in  some  Transvaal  hostelry,  was  presumptuous 
enough  to  ring  the  bell,  and,  getting  no  response, 
repeated  the  operation,  with  the  result  that  the 
landlord  rushed  into  the  room,  angrily  asking — 

“  Did  you  ring  that  bell  ?  ” 

“  I  did,”  replied  the  traveller. 

“  Then  if  you  do  it  again,  I’ll  wring  your  ear  off’.” 
The  rain  was  still  pouring  when  we  started.  At 
10  a.m.  we  reached  Widepoort,  a  pretty  but  forlorn- 
looking  little  place  in  the  midst  of  a  treeless  veldt 
rolling  away  for  miles  and  miles.  There  we  found 
a  tidy-looking  English  couple,  who  cooked  us  an 
excellent  breakfast  :  they  kept  a  store,  where  num¬ 
bers  of  old  English  uniforms  were  piled  up,  which 
are  all  bought  by  the  natives.  The  track  was 
getting  less  hilly,  but  as  bad  as  ever  for  the  horses, 
being  through  heavy  and  marshy  ground.  We 


JOHANNESBURG. 


251 


arrived  at  about  4  p.m.  at  Heidelberg,  a  pretty  little 
town,  with  a  nice  clean  inn,  and  after  dark  we 
reached  Boksberg,  a  coal-mining  place  just  started, 
its  little  houses  having  sprung  up  as  rapidly  as 
mushrooms. 

I  had  noticed  that  one  of  our  passengers  had 
been  getting  very  excited  and  had  frequently  looked 
at  his  revolver  as  we  approached  this  place ;  it 
turned  out  that  he  had  been  warned  that  a  man 
who  had  got  a  deadly  grudge  against  him  was 
waiting  for  him  there.  I  believe  he  was  terrified, 
for  as  soon  as  we  arrived  he  slunk  into  a  house  and 
disappeared  until  it  was  time  to  go  on  again. 

The  evening  was  glorious  as  we  entered  Johannes¬ 
burg  at  about  eleven  o’clock,  and  after  getting  rid  of 
our  mail-bags,  we  drove  through  the  streets  with  a 
great  clatter  to  the  best  hotel.  There  was  not  a 
corner  to  be  had.  One  of  our  fellow-passengers, 
who  lived  there,  tried  to  find  rooms  for  us  in  several 
places.  While  he  was  doing  so,  we  stood  waiting 
with  our  bag  on  the  pavement  in  front  of  a  well- 
lit-up  and  most  noisy  bar,  from  which  peals  of 
laughter  were  issuing,  especially  from  the  neigh¬ 
bourhood  of  the  two  fat  rosy  -  cheeked  girls  who 
stood  behind  the  counter.  At  last  our  kind  fellow- 
passenger  returned,  having  found  a  room  at  the 
“  Grand  ”  Hotel,  of  which  he  gave  us  the  address. 
One  of  those  delightful  two- wheeled  “  spiders”  with 
a  hood,  used  there  as  cabs,  happened  to  be  passing,  so 


252 


THE  LAND  OF  GOLD. 


we  got  in,  not  knowing  how  far  we  had  to  go.  As  it 
turned  out,  it  was  just  round  the  corner,  not  fifty 
yards  distant,  a  journey  for  which  the  driver  —  a 
perfect  gentleman  in  appearance — calmly  charged 
us  10s.  !  and  as  there  are  no  rules  and  regulations 
about  fares,  we  had  to  pay. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  room  we  were  taken  to  ! 
The  hotel  proper  consisted  of  one  low  building, 
looking  on  to  the  street,  in  which  were  the  public 
rooms.  After  passing  through  two  of  these,  we 
found  ourselves  in  a  large  courtyard,  on  either  side 
of  which  was  a  narrow  three-storeyed  wooden  house. 
In  front  of  each  fioor  ran  an  open  wooden  balcony 
connected  to  that  above  it  by  a  narrow  flight  of 
wooden  steps.  We  reached  the  second  floor  by  one 
of  these,  and  with  the  help  of  a  dim  lantern  groped 
our  way  over  many  pairs  of  boots  into  a  room,  or 
rather  a  pigeon-hole,  with  a  little  window  about 
one  foot  square,  under  which  was  what  they  were 
pleased  to  call  a  bed.  This,  as  I  discovered  the  next 
morning,  was  simply  a  pile  of  dirty  mattresses 
heaped  one  on  the  top  of  the  other  on  the  bare 
floor.  Dead  beat,,  I  tumbled  into  the  ready-made 
bed  without  inspecting  anything ;  while  poor  Harry, 
about  a  foot  longer  than  the  room,  lay  down  on  the 
floor  with  his  knees  tucked  up,  as,  not  knowiug  what 
our  neighbours  might  be,  I  did  not  like  leaving  the 
door  open  for  him  to  put  his  legs  through.  When 
daylight  appeared,  I  shivered  with  horror  as  I  looked 


SPECULATION  IN  JOHANNESBURG. 


253 


at  the  sheets  that  I  had  been  sleeping  in.  Miner 
after  miner  must  have  slept  in  them  for  weeks ! 

Next  morning  we  walked  out  to  see  this  marvellous 
town  of  two  years’  growth,  with  its  curious  mixture 
of  grand  public  buildings,  large  hotels,  and  rows  of 
corrugated  iron  houses  of  all  sizes.  The  streets  are 
wide,  but  very  dusty ;  the  shops  good,  but  every¬ 
thing  ruinous  in  price.  There  was  plenty  of  money 
flying  about  the  town  ;  the  rage  for  speculation  was 
at  its  height,  and  there  was  a  boom  in  gold  shares, 
which  were  being  run  up  by  the  English  market. 
Enormous  fortunes  were  being  made  just  then,  with 
the  natural  result  that  it  was  impossible  to  get 
servants  or  clerks.  Every  one  speculated  on  his 
own  account,  and  did  not  see  the  fun  of  working 
for  other  people.  Round  the  Exchange  there  were 
always  groups  of  busy-looking  men ;  otherwise  the 
place  had  a  deserted  appearance,  and  one  could 
hardly  realise  it  held  twenty  thousand  inhabitants. 
In  the  large  square  in  the  centre  of  the  town 
a  good  many  waggons  were  drawn  up,  some  of 
them  outspanned,  a  very  neat  operation  :  every 
yoke,  as  soon  as  it  is  taken  off,  being  laid  down 
on  the  ground  in  its  proper  position,  so  that  the 
full  span  of  sixteen  oxen  can  be  put  to  again  in 
a  moment. 

In  the  afternoon,  after  bargaining  with  three 
drivers,  and  at  last  inducing  one  to  come  down  to  a 
reasonable  price,  we  drove  to  the  “  Robinson  ”  mine, 


254 


THE  LAND  OF  GOLD. 


situated  just  outside  the  town,  and  one  of  the  most 
important  in  the  district.  We  were  taken  all  over 
it,  and  shown  the  working  of  the  machinery.  They 
have  now  got  down  about  seven  hundred  feet  below 
the  surface,  and  still  find  gold  in  as  great  quantities 
as  ever.  The  gold-bearing  quartz  is  placed  in  trucks, 
which  are  run  through  narrow  galleries  up  an  in¬ 
clined  plane  to  the  mouth  of  the  mine,  and  there 
passed  along  another  line  of  rails  to  the  stamp-room, 
where  forty  stamps  are  always  at  work.  The  quartz 
is  first  put  through  a  crusher  like  a  sort  of  coffee- 
mill,  then  pounded  in  machine-mortars,  next  mixed 
with  water  and  run  over  amalgamated  zinc  plates.  It 
then  passes  through  a  sluice  covered  with  blankets, 
in  which  the  larger  pieces  of  gold  are  caught.  They 
told  me  that  the  £1  shares  of  this  mine  were  at  that 
time  worth  £70. 

Round  Johannesburg  is  all  bare  and  desolate 
veldt,  no  trees  to  give  any  shelter,  and  very  little  to 
suggest  to  one  that  riches  lie  so  near  at  hand.  Some 
turned-up  earth,  a  few  trenches,  and  little  heaps  of 
stone,  are  all  one  sees.  As  the  Irishman  said  who 
travelled  with  us  next  day  to  Pretoria,  “  They  tell 
me  there  is  gold  here.  Where  is  it  ?  I  can’t  see  any 
— only  bits  of  rock  and  stone  about.”  We  started  at 
7  a.m.  in  a  totally  different  class  of  conveyance  from 
that  in  which  we  had  travelled  from  Natal,  more  like 
an  old  royal  mail-coach  hung  on  powerful  C-springs, 
holding  twelve  people  inside,  of  whom  six  faced  the 


THE  PRETORIA  COACH. 


PRETORIA. 


255 


horses.  On  the  top  were  two  rows  of  seats,  the  rest 
of  the  roof  being  entirely  taken  up  by  luggage.  The 
road  was  a  fair  one,  and  we  travelled  along  at  a 
good  pace,  changing  horses  three  times,  and  break¬ 
fasting  at  the  “Half-way  House,”  a  well-built  hotel 
in  a  lovely  spot,  surrounded  by  great  boulders  of 
rock,  among  which  grew  mimosas  covered  with  their 
little  yellow  sweet-scented  balls. 

At  twelve  we  reached  Pretoria  in  the  middle  of  a 
heavy  shower,  the  last  part  of  the  road  being  very 
pretty.  I  never  saw  anything  more  unlike  one’s 
preconceived  ideas  of  a  capital ;  it  was  far  more  like 
a  large  English  village,  composed  chiefly  of  pretty 
little  one  -  storeyed  houses,  each  standing  in  its 
own  garden,  bright  with  the  pink  blossoms  of  the 
oleander.  The  streets,  however,  are  very  broad,  so 
as  to  allow  the  long  teams  of  the  ox  -  waggons  to 
turn ;  and  down  their  sides  are  sluits,  open  ditches 
of  running  water.  After  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  in  the  Transvaal,  in  which  we  had  so  far  come 
across  hardly  any  one  who  was  not  English,  we 
had  expected  that  here  at  all  events  we  should  be 
able  to  study  the  Boer  at  home,  but  we  were  sadly 
disappointed.  Pretoria  outwardly  is  as  English  as 
Johannesburg.  Even  the  hotel  to  which  we  were 
directed  was  called  “  The  Fountain,”  not  Die 
Fontein,  as  I  should  have  expected  in  the  capital 
of  Boerdom.  Finding  this  was  full,  we  went  on 
to  “  Strachan’s,”  where  we  were  received  by  a 


256 


THE  LAND  OF  GOLD. 


thoroughly  English  barmaid,  of  whom  Harry  asked 
if  there  were  any  rooms  to  be  had. 

Her  answer  was,  “  What’s  your  name  ?  ” 

“  Col  vile.” 

“  Then  I’ll  run  and  ask  mamma.” 

She  soon  came  back  saying  they  had  a  room,  and 
led  us  out  of  the  front-door,  down  a  verandah  facing 
the  street,  and  into  a  sort  of  loose-box  opening  out 
of  it — a  dirty  little  hole  with  a  door  which  would 
not  shut,  so  that  we  were  practically  in  the  street. 

The  first  thing  we  did  was  to  set  out  and  shop. 
Being  so  long  parted  from  our  luggage,  we  w^ere 
obliged  to  buy  things  as  we  went  along.  This  done, 
we  went  to  call  at  the  British  Residency,  and  were 
lucky  enough  to  find  Mrs  Williams  at  home,  who 
invited  us  to  stay  to  lunch,  so  as  to  make  sure  of 
not  missing  her  husband,  who  was  out.  This  was  a 
most  comfortable  house,  charmingly  done  up,  with 
a  nice  verandah  looking  on  to  a  lovely  little  gar¬ 
den.  It  was  certainly  jumping  from  one  extreme 
to  another  to  sit  here  after  our  late  experience  of 
hotels  ! 

After  lunch,  Mr  Williams  offered  to  drive  us  to 
the  race-course  to  see  some  sports,  the  wind-up  of 
their  race  -  week.  It  rained  in  torrents  the  whole 
time ;  still  it  amused  me  to  see  the  different  types 
by  which  England  was  there  represented — the  Dutch, 
with  the  exception  of  one  or  two  emigrants  from 
Cape  Colony,  holding  completely  aloof  from  this 


GENERAL  JOUBERT. 


257 


class  of  entertainment.  They  are  a  homely  people, 
and  the  womenkind  not  above  doing  their  own 
housework,  which  I  do  not  wonder  at,  considering 
how  difficult  it  is  to  train  and  keep  the  natives,  who 
at  a  moment’s  notice  ask  for  a  holiday,  go  away,  and 
never  come  back.  Mrs  Williams  told  me  she  had  at 
last  to  send  to  the  Cape  for  her  servants. 

Harry  wrent  after  the  races  to  call  on  General 
Joubert,  victor  at  Lang’s  Nek,  &c.,  to  whom  he  took 
a  great  fancy.  He  described  him  as  rather  of  the 
type  of  a  dark-haired  Scottish  farmer,  with  a  slightly 
grey  beard,  small  twinkling  eyes,  and  singularly 
sympathetic  manner,  but  showing  nervousness  by 
constantly  twiddling  his  thumbs.  The  General  said 
that  since  the  war  the  Boer  forces  had  been  entirely 
rearmed  with  the  Martini-Henry,  which  he  believed 
not  only  to  be  the  best  rifle  in  existence,  but  the 
best  that  would  ever  be  invented.  On  Harry  ask¬ 
ing  him  if  they  wTere  ever  troubled  with  cartridges 
jamming,  he  said  they  had  hardly  ever  had  a  case, 
which  he  attributed  to  the  men’s  habit  of  using  a 
pull-through  with  a  bit  of  suet  attached,  with  which 
they  cleaned  out  their  rifles  during  any  pause  in  the 
fight. 

On  Sunday  afternoon,  while  I  was  resting,  Harry 
called  on  President  Kruger,  by  whom  he  was  re¬ 
ceived  in  a  large  bare  room,  furnished  with  a  few 
uncomfortable  chairs,  two  large  Bibles  on  a  round 
table,  and  pictures  of  Yon  Moltke,  Prince  Bismarck, 

R 


258 


THE  LAND  OF  GOLD. 


and  General  Joubert.  The  President  was  a  coarse 
but  rather  cunning-looking  old  man,  with  a  New- 
gate  frill,  large  flat  ears,  and  a  red  nose  with 
spreading  nostrils  ;  to  whom  Harry  took  as  great 
a  dislike  as  he  had  taken  a  fancy  to  General 
J  oubert. 

That  evening  we  dined  with  Mr  and  Mrs  Williams, 
and  met  a  young  Dutchman,  who  had  been  brought 
up  in  England  as  a  lawyer,  and  went  to  the  Cape  in 
that  capacity.  He  had  been  given  a  high  legal  post 
in  the  Transvaal,  and  when  the  rebellion  took  place, 
he  volunteered  and  joined  the  English.  He  spoke 
very  bitterly  when  he  told  us  that  for  a  month  he 
worked  for  England  like  a  slave,  and  at  the  end  never 
received  a  word  of  thanks,  much  less  any  recompense. 
He  naturally  lost  his  appointment,  and  now  has  to 
make  a  fresh  start  and  begin  life  over  again.  He 
said  the  Cape  Dutch  in  the  Transvaal  had  learnt  a 
bitter  lesson,  and  that  whatever  might  happen  in 
the  future,  England  must  not  count  on  them  as 
allies.  They  would  either  leave  the  country  or  go 
against  us. 

During  dinner  we  were  told,  as  an  instance  of  the 
cruelty  of  the  natives,  that  a  few  days  ago  in  Swazi¬ 
land,  instead  of  hanging  a  man,  they  tied  a  rope 
round  his  neck  and  another  round  his  feet,  and 
pulled  contrary  ways  until  he  was  in  a  horizontal 
position.  The  ropes  were  then  drawn  tight,  and 
little  taps  given  to  them,  until  the  victim  literally 


BURIAL  OF  THE  BRITISH  FLAG. 


259 


died  of  shocks  to  the  system.  We  also  heard  many 
interesting  details  of  Mr  and  Mrs  Williams’s  trip 
to  the  Zambesi.  I  believe  she  is  still  the  only  white 
woman  who  has  ever  been  to  the  Victoria  Falls.  It 
took  them  fifteen  months  to  go  there  and  back  in 
their  own  waggon.  She  gave  an  amusing  account 
of  how,  having  run  out  of  articles  for  barter,  she 
fell  back  on  her  cloth  dress,  in  exchange  for  strips 
of  which  they  got  their  daily  food  when  there 
happened  to  be  no  game  to  shoot. 

On  Monday  we  were  taken  into  a  little  backyard 
in  the  town,  in  which  was  kept  the  tombstone  which 
had  been  erected  over  the  British  flag  when  it  was 
buried  here  after  the  peace  of  1881,  near  the  spot 
where  the  bishop’s  church  now  stands.  I  quote  the 
address  delivered  at  the  burial  service  from  the 
‘  Transvaal  Argus’  of  August  6th,  1881 

“Friends,  South  Africans,  and  Countrymen, — We  are 
assembled  here  to-day  to  perform  the  sad  and  solemn  rites 
of  consigning  to  its  long  last  resting-place  the  remains  of 
one  whom  we  have  honoured  and  revered  from  our  birth. 
While  yet  in  the  greatness  of  her  power,  the  magnificence 
of  her  dominion,  the  pride  of  her  sway,  she  has  bowed  her 
proud  head,  and  fallen,  not,  alas  !  from  any  inherent  weak¬ 
ness,  but  in  the  midst  of  her  glory,  by  an  insidious  blow 
from  the  hands  of  her  most  trusted  adviser.  For  a 
thousand  years  she  has  inspired  her  sons  not  only  with 
energy  to  conquer  the  greater  portions  of  the  world,  but 
with  virtue  and  moderation  to  rule  it.  For  a  thousand 
years  her  colours  have  floated  with  equal  majesty  from  the 
torrid  to  the  arctic  zone ;  neither  has  trouble  shaken  nor 


260 


THE  LAND  OF  GOLD. 


has  time  weakened  the  affections  which  have  beat  for  her 
in  the  hearts  of  her  people.  In  all  quarters  of  the  globe 
where  her  standard  has  been  raised,  she  has  been  looked  to 
as  a  refuge  for  the  troubled  and  the  oppressed.  Her  sons 
have  scattered  themselves  over  the  face  of  the  earth, 
bearing  with  them  the  tidings  of  justice  and  freedom. 
People  have  flocked  to  her  standard,  whole  nations  have 
lifted  their  eyes  to  witness  and  their  voices  to  proclaim 
her  coming.  At  the  magic  influence  of  her  presence  the 
fetters  have  fallen  from  the  limbs  of  the  slave ;  but  the 
rippling  laughter  of  the  happy  and  the  free  has  been  heard 
on  every  side,  while  the  moderation  of  her  sway  gave 
peace  and  contentment  throughout  the  lands.  But,  0 
friends !  in  this  our  adopted  country  all  has  changed. 
That  flag,  for  which  our  forefathers  gave  the  choicest  of 
their  treasures,  and  for  whose  honour  so  many  offered  up 
their  lives,  has  been  laid  down  in  the  dust.  Wounded  to 
the  heart  by  an  unkind  thrust,  shorn  of  a  portion  of  her 
honour,  her  crown  of  glory  taken  away  by  those  whose 
prime  duty  it  was  to  guard  her  with  most  jealous  care,  she 
has  come  to  an  untimely  end.  The  flag  we  loved  is  dead  ! ! 
and  with  that  flag  (the  emblem  of  justice  and  freedom), 
justice  and  freedom  themselves  in  this  land  seem  also  dead. 
We  lay  in  that  grave  before  us  the  flag  which  may  no  more 
in  this  country  unfurl  herself.  Our  hearts,  too,  are  in  that 
grave.  And  now,  gentlemen,  dwelling  no  longer  on  the 
past,  with  the  past  we  bury  all  rancour  and  animosity, 
turning  ourselves  to  the  future  with  that  hope  which  has 
ever  sustained  us.  Friends  and  countrymen,  we  are  not 
cast  down ;  though  we  have  lost  our  flag  we  have  not  lost 
our  courage.  Though  the  emblem  has  gone,  the  sentiments 
she  inspired  still  remain  with  us.  Though  our  poor  dear 
flag  lies  in  that  grave,  the  principles  she  taught  shall  live 
as  long  as  the  sun  shall  shine.  The  future  of  this  land — we 
had  hoped  a  bright  and  glorious  future,  when  all  this 
wide  domain  from  Table  Mountain  to  the  Zambesi  should 


PRETORIA  FORT. 


261 


have  been  welded  in  one  harmonious  whole  under  this  flag, 
— the  future  of  this  land  now  lies  in  the  eternal  mainten¬ 
ance  of  those  principles  of  truth  and  justice  without  which 
no  country  can  prosper.  Go,  then,  all  of  you,  and  let  the 
influence  we  spread  and  the  lessons  we  teach  be  the 
influence  instilled  into  us  and  the  lessons  gained  by  us 
under  the  shadow  of  that  flag  whose  loss  we  so  deeply 
mourn.” 

On  tlie  tombstone  was  the  following  inscription : — 
£n  Iobhuj  fHcmoro 

OP  THE 

BRITISH  FLAG  IN  THE  TRANSVAAL, 

WHO  DEPARTED  THIS  LIFE 
ON  THE  2nd  AUGUST  1881, 

IN  HER  FOURTH  TEAR. 

“In  other  climes  none  knew  thee  but  to  love  thee l” 

On  the  same  morning  Mr  Williams  drove  us  to  the 
fort  in  which  the  English  troops  had  been  besieged 
during  the  war,  now  occupied  by  the  new  Boer 
artillery.  In  it  were  two  new  armour-plated  huts, 
very  like  similar  contrivances  which  we  had  seen  at 
Massowah,  and  which  were  said  to  be  very  useful 
for  savage  warfare,  though  they  seemed  to  me  very 
cumbersome  things  to  take  about  on  an  expedition. 
We  were  shown  over  the  fort  by  a  German  officer 
who  had  been  private  secretary  to  Dinizulu  — 
Cetewayo’s  son. 

We  started  again  for  Johannesburg  by  the  one 
o’clock  coach,  nine  inside — a  Salvation  Army  girl, 


262 


THE  LAND  OF  GOLD. 


several  bookmakers,  and  a  broker  or  two  —  and 
several  on  the  top.  After  the  first  stage  the 
driver  went  off  the  usual  track  to  avoid  a  bog, 
instead  of  which  he  got  into  one.  Suddenly  we 
heard  a  crash  and  came  to  a  standstill,  and  found 
ourselves  axle-deep  in  mud ;  and  in  trying  to  pull 
us  through,  the  traces  and  iron  chains  snapped,  the 
leaders  going  off  at  full  gallop  up  a  hill  and  dis¬ 
appearing  over  the  sky  -  line,  leaving  the  helpless 
wheelers  still  fast  to  the  coach.  As  nothing  could 
be  done  till  the  six  horses  had  been  caught  and 
brought  back,  most  of  us  got  out  and  walked  to  the 
“  Half-way  House,”  hoping  to  reach  it  in  time  for 
lunch ;  but  we  found  it  was  far  farther  off  than  we 
expected,  and  after  being  disappointed  a  dozen  times 
as  we  reached  successive  ridg-es  from  which  we  ex- 
pected  to  see  it,  we  were  finally  overtaken  by  the 
coach  within  sight  of  its  doors. 

We  got  back  to  Johannesburg  at  seven,  and 
found  that  our  coach  for  Kimberley  was  to  start  at 
four  on  the  following  morning,  so  we  lay  down  in 
our  clothes  and  got  what  rest  we  could. 

Groping  through  the  dark  streets  we  arrived 
at  the  coach,  and  at  once  settled  down  into 
our  places,  two  seats  at  the  back  facing  the 
horses,  which  had  the  advantage  of  allowing  their 
occupants  to  rest  their  heads  when  the  coach  was 
not  jolting  too  violently;  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  construction  of  the  seat  in  front  made  it  im- 


POTCHEFSTROOM. 


263 


possible  for  them  to  stretch  their  legs  ;  while  the 
occupants  of  this  seat,  although  given  a  fair  amount 
of  liberty  in  that  direction,  had  no  support  for  their 
heads,  their  seat  being  simply  a  bench  backed  with 
a  narrow  strap  supported  on  stanchions  ;  and  as  the 
coach  jolted  across  the  veldt,  their  heads  bobbed 
and  bumped  together  every  time  they  dropped  into 
a  doze.  Opposite  their  seat  was  another  similar 
one,  and  behind  it  one  like  ours,  both  having  their 
backs  to  the  horses,  so  that  twelve  of  us  were  seated 
inside  the  coach,  all  under  slightly  varying  condi¬ 
tions  of  discomfort.  Soon  the  companionship  of 
suffering  brought  us  on  friendly  terms ;  and  we 
temporarily  exchanged  seats,  and  practically  tested 
the  disadvantages  of  our  neighbours’  position,  till  a 
partly  dislocated  neck  in  our  case,  or  a  numbed  leg 
in  theirs,  made  us  again  exchange  and  return  to  our 
own  places. 

As  the  day  broke  we  found  ourselves  in  an  un¬ 
interesting  country  covered  with  yellow  mimosa. 
We  arrived  in  time  for  lunch  at  Potchefstroom,  a 
pretty  little  well  -  timbered  place,  which  offers  a 
pleasant  contrast  to  its  treeless  surroundings,  and 
is  approached  by  a  most  picturesque  wooden  bridge, 
at  each  end  of  which  grow  two  large  weeping- 
willows.  Thence  we  continued  our  journey  on  to 
Klerksdorp,  which  we  reached  at  eight  o’clock,  after 
nearly  sticking  fast  in  several  bogs. 

We  thought  we  were  to  sleep  here  at  “  The  Smiling 


264 


THE  LAND  OF  GOLD. 


Morn,”  as  the  hotel  was  called ;  hut  on  entering  the 
bar — called  “  The  Smiling-Eoom  ” — we  were  told  we 
should  only  dine  and  change  coaches,  as  the  Johan¬ 
nesburg  coach  went  no  farther.  So  after  a  good 
wash  and  an  indifferent  dinner  we  were  off  again  by 
nine,  and  had  a  beautiful  clear  night  for  our  drive. 
The  whole  coach  was  soon  off  to  sleep.  We  were 
awakened  at  about  1  a.m.  at  a  changing-station 
where  hot  coffee  could  be  got,  and  then  travelled 
on  till  daylight,  when  we  stopped  for  breakfast  at 
Makosospruit,  and  for  lunch  at  Bloemhof.  After 
leaving  this  last  place,  one  of  the  back-springs  broke, 
and  we  had  all  to  get  out  of  the  coach  and  take  the 
luggage  off,  so  as  to  allow  the  spring  to  be  roughly 
patched  up  with  cow-hide.  It  was  a  great  bore,  as 
we  were  still  some  miles  from  Christiana,  which  we 
consequently  did  not  reach  till  late  that  evening. 

About  two  we  crossed  the  Yaal  river,  about 
three  hundred  yards  wide.  The  coach  and  horses 
were  driven  on  to  a  ferry-boat  and  towed  across,  we 
sitting  in  our  places  the  whole  time,  and  in  spite 
of  our  sleepiness  enjoying  the  beautiful  moonlight 
view  of  the  river.  On  the  far  bank  we  had  a  five 
minutes’  halt  for  a  cup  of  coffee ;  after  which,  with 
the  exception  of  a  few  minutes’  halt  in  the  early 
morning,  when  we  got  a  mouthful  of  bread-and- 
butter,  we  had  nothing  to  eat  until  we  reached 
Kimberley  at  noon. 

On  arriving  there  we  drove  to  the  Central  Hotel, 


KIMBERLEY. 


265 


which  had  been  recommended  to  ns  as  the  best ;  but 
finding  it  full,  went  on  to  the  Queen’s,  where  we 
had  no  more  success !  Our  flyman  then  proposed 
the  Grand,  where,  as  at  Pretoria,  we  were  offered 
a  loose  -  box,  this  time  actually  opening  into  the 
street  without  even  an  intervening  verandah,  the 
hotel  itself  being  full.  We  had  to  take  it  and 
be  thankful ;  for  the  whole  of  Kimberley  was  over¬ 
run  with  cricketers,  a  team  having  come  from 
England  to  play  the  Colony.  Having  secured  a 
resting-place,  we  again  went  to  make  inquiries  about 
our  luggage  in  hopes  that  it  might  have  been  sent 
straight  on,  but  nothing  had  been  heard  of  it ;  so 
we  went  back  and  rested  till  dinner-time,  having 
certainly  earned  repose,  for  we  had  left  Pretoria  on 
Monday  the  14th,  slept  from  11  p.m.  to  3  a.m.  at 
Johannesburg,  went  on  travelling  night  and  day  all 
Tuesday  and  Wednesday,  arriving  on  Thursday  the 
17th  at  Kimberley,  having  only  been  allowed  daily 
half  an  hour  for  breakfast,  half  an  hour  for  lunch, 
an  hour  for  dinner,  and  about  five  minutes  at  every 
outspanning  stage.  It  was  not  so  much  the  rough¬ 
ness  of  the  road,  but  the  wTant  of  sleep,  and  the 
cramped  position  that  one  is  in  all  the  time,  that 
makes  it  so  exhausting;. 

Next  morning  we  called  on  Mr  J.  B.  Currey, 
manager  of  the  South  African  Exploration  Com¬ 
pany,  whom  Harry  had  known  in  Cape  Town,  and 
who  kindly  gave  us  a  note  to  Mr  Pickering,  manager 


266 


THE  LAND  OF  GOLD. 


of  the  “  De  Beers  ”  diamond-mine,  asking  him  to 
show  us  over  the  works.  On  arriving  there  we 
found  we  were  unfortunately  too  late  to  see  the 
diamond -washing,  so  were  taken  over  the  “  Com¬ 
pound  ”  where  the  miners  live.  Mounting  a  steepish 
slope,  we  found  ourselves  in  front  of  a  heavy  locked 
door,  which  being  opened  by  the  porter  in  answer 
to  our  ring,  we  entered  a  large  square,  with  an 
asphalt  floor,  surrounded  by  a  fence  of  corrugated 
iron  ten  feet  high.  On  two  sides  of  it  are  the 
canteens  and  the  Kaffirs’  quarters,  and  on  a  third 
those  of  the  white  overseers.  In  the  centre  is  a 
big  swimming-bath  next  the  schoolroom,  in  which 
I  noticed  one  of  those  gongs  with  copper  tubes  of 
different  lengths  which  I  have  often  seen  at  home ; 
on  this  they  learn  to  play  tunes.  After  visiting 
the  hospital,  a  cool,  airy,  high-roofed  shed,  where 
there  were  forty  wounded  men,  laid  up  mostly 
with  broken  arms  and  legs  —  casualties  that  had 
happened  in  the  mine  —  we  were  taken  through 
a  door  that  is  always  kept  locked,  into  a  passage ; 
reminding  me  of  the  covered  bridge  by  which 
passengers  cross  from  one  platform  to  another 
in  a  large  English  railway  station,  and  venti¬ 
lated  at  intervals  by  small  iron  -  barred  windows. 
At  the  end  was  a  big  square  hole  in  the  floor, 
through  which  we  could  just  see  the  top  of  two 
narrow  iron  ladders  side  by  side,  by  which  the 
diggers  have  to  go  up  and  down  to  and  from  the 


THE  COMPOUND,  DE  BEER’S  MINE. 


THE  KIMBERLEY  MINES. 


267 


mine.  The  black  miners  are  engaged  for  three 
months,  during  which  time  they  cannot  leave  the 
“  Compound.”  At  the  end  of  this  period,  if  they 
like  to  re-engage  themselves,  they  can ;  and  some 
of  them  were  pointed  out  to  us  as  never  having 
been  outside  the  place  since  it  was  started  two 
years  ago.  Even  the  overseers  cannot  go  outside 
without  a  ticket-of-leave.  No  money  is  used  inside 
the  “  Compound,”  all  articles  being  bought  and  sold 
in  exchange  for  brass  tokens  of  different  fictitious 
values. 

In  the  afternoon  we  drove  with  Mr  Currey  to 
“  Du  Toit’s  Pan  ”  mine,  a  huge  quarry  with  pre¬ 
cipitous  sides  several  hundred  feet  deep,  at  the 
bottom  of  which,  as  we  peeped  over  the  edge, 
the  workers  looked  like  ants.  The  sides  are 
covered  with  a  network  of  wire-ropes,  each  pair 
running  over  two  wheels  and  working  a  tub  by 
which  the  men  ascend  and  descend  the  mine,  and 
the  blue  clay  is  brought  up.  We  were  very  anxious 
to  go  down  in  one  of  these  tubs,  but  I  was  already 
feeling  very  ill  with  another  return  of  fever,  so  we 
were  taken  instead  to  see  the  washing  of  the  clay 
at  the  “  De  Beers  ”  mine,  which  we  had  missed  that 
morning. 

On  our  way  there  we  passed  through  many  hun¬ 
dred  acres  of  what  appeared  to  be  ordinary  ploughed 
fields  of  a  bluish  clay,  and  which  certainly  gave  no 
indication  of  the  immense  wealth  which  they  con- 


268 


THE  LAND  OF  GOLD. 


tained.  It  is  in  these  fields  that  the  diamond- 
bearing  day  is  exposed  to  the  air  for  some  months 
before  being  washed.  They  were  only  separated 
from  the  highroad  by  a  light  and  easily  dimbable 
fence ;  and  it  struck  me  as  very  curious  that  such 
extraordinary  precautions  as  we  had  seen  in  the 
morning  should  be  taken  while  it  is  dug  out,  and 
that  it  should  then  be  left  apparently  at  the  mercy 
of  any  passer-by  in  the  open  fields.  When  it  has 
been  sufficiently  loosened  by  the  action  of  the 
weather,  the  clay  is  taken  to  the  washing-station, 
and  thrown  on  to  a  sort  of  gravel  screen,  where  it 
is  washed  under  a  jet  of  water,  the  lighter  particles 
being  carried  away,  while  the  gravel  and  diamonds 
remain,  a  smaller-meshed  screen  beyond  catching 
any  stones  which  had  passed  through  the  first. 
After  it  is  thoroughly  washed,  it  is  spread  out  on 
tables,  and  the  men  sort  it  carefully,  picking  out 
any  diamonds  they  come  across,  which  are  easy 
to  see  from  their  whiteness  as  compared  to  other 
pebbles.  Mr  Currey  told  us  he  was  going  to  gravel 
his  garden  -  paths  with,  this  refuse,  which  is  con¬ 
sidered  of  no  value,  the  garnets,  of  which  the 
gravel  is  composed,  being  too  small  to  be  worth 
cutting.  He  told  me  also  that  a  lady,  who  had 
been  given  some  for  the  same  purpose,  had  found 
three  diamonds  while  walking  about  her  garden. 
Even  stones  found  accidentally  like  this  have  to 
be  reported  at  once,  for  the  laws  are  so  severe 


CAPE  TOWN. 


269 


that  any  one  who  does  not  do  so  is  liable  to  find 
himself  in  a  very  awkward  position. 

On  Saturday  afternoon,  January  19th,  we  left 
Kimberley  by  train  at  2.25  for  Cape  Town.  Luckily 
Harry  had  secured  a  reserved  carriage,  for  my  attack 
of  fever  had  gone  on  increasing  from  the  day  before, 
and  the  terrible  sickness  still  continued ;  so  my 
recollections  of  the  first  twenty-four  hours  are  of 
the  vaguest.  Towards  the  evening  of  the  next  day, 
however,  I  began  to  feel  better,  and  was  able  to 
enjoy  the  grand  scenery  we  were  passing  through, 
the  line  winding  in  and  out  among  the  mountains. 
It  got  more  beautiful  after  nightfall,  with  the  bright 
moonlight  casting  deep  shadows  in  places,  and  in 
others  showing  up  the  clear  hard  line  of  the  rugged 
mountains.  Many  were  the  different  profiles  of 
human  faces  and  shapes  of  animals  that  they 
assumed. 

We  arrived  at  Cape  Town  at  about  seven  o’clock 
on  Monday  morning,  and  spent  nine  days  there 
vainly  trying  to  find  any  sort  of  ship  to  take  us 
to  Mossamedes,  where  we  could  have  found  a  West 
Coast  boat  in  which  to  continue  our  coasting  trip. 
With  this  object  in  view  we  pestered  every  possible 
person  connected  with  the  sea,  from  the  local  timber 
merchant  to  the  Captain  of  a  French  man-of-war, 
who  had  incautiously  put  in  for  a  little  holiday. 
While  not  thus  engaged,  we  were  making  the  lives 
of  steamship  and  railway  officials  a  burden  to  them 


270 


THE  LAND  OF  GOLD. 


on  account  of  our  lost  luggage,  which,  however, 
never  turned  up  until  months  after  we  had  reached 
England.  Strange  to  say,  the  lockless  portmanteau 
arrived  exactly  as  I  had  packed  it,  with  every 
diamond  intact — a  rather  remarkable  fact,  consid¬ 
ering  that  it  had  followed  us  the  whole  way  from 
Ladysmith  through  the  Transvaal  and  the  diamond- 
fields. 


271 


BOOK  VII. 

THE  FORTUNATE  ISLES. 

Failing  to  find  the  ship  we  wanted,  or  our  luggage, 
we  embarked  on  Wednesday,  January  30th,  on  the 
“Hawarden  Castle,”  and  after  an  uneventful  voyage, 
landed  on  Wednesday,  the  13th  of  February,  at  the 
port  of  Las  Palmas,  the  capital  of  Grand  Canary ; 
and  thence  drove  about  two  miles  into  the  town, 
where,  after  several  fruitless  endeavours  to  obtain 
accommodation,  we  finally  put  up  at  the  Grand 
Hotel. 

Las  Palmas  at  a  distance  has  rather  an  oriental 
appearance,  and  the  expectations  thus  raised  are 
fully  gratified  on  closer  acquaintance,  as  far  as  the 
population  is  concerned,  the  natives  being  the  most 
arrant  beggars  I  have  ever  come  across,  children  of 
all  sorts  and  sizes  crying  incessantly,  “Johnny, 
give  me  a  penny,”  while  their  elders,  with  equal 
pertinacity,  demanded  cigarettes.  From  behind 
latticed  windows  too — reminding  one  of  the  Egyp¬ 
tian  mushrabieh  —  rows  of  dark  eyes  peeped  out 


272 


THE  FORTUNATE  ISLES. 


at  ns  as  we  passed,  their  owners  seemingly  living, 
during  the  daytime  at  all  events,  the  ordinary  harem 
life. 

A  closer  inspection  of  the  streets,  however,  reveals 
the  very  unoriental  quality  of  extreme  cleanliness. 
The  houses  are  of  a  dazzling  white  exterior,  many 
of  them  adorned  with  massive  handsomely  carved 


Washei-ivomen,  Las  Palmas. 

doors ;  but  their  most  marked  features  are  some 
curious  cannon  -  shaped  wooden  gutter  -  spouts  pro¬ 
jecting  three  or  four  feet  from  just  under  the 
eaves,  and  which  must  form  a  rather  trying  series 
of  shower  -  baths  to  the  foot  -  passenger  on  a  rainy 
day.  The  four  principal  sights  of  the  town  are  the 
cathedral,  the  museum,  the  new  opera  -  house,  and 


LAS  PALMAS. 


273 


the  cemetery,  all  of  which  we  duly  “did.”  The 
exterior  of  the  cathedral  is  decidedly  imposing,  but 
the  interior  to  my  mind  was  not  worthy  of  it,  its 
only  marked  feature  being  its  Gothic  roof  and 
arches,  which  were  very  fine.  The  museum  con¬ 
tains  a  good  collection  of  plaster-casts  and  imple¬ 
ments  of  the  original  inhabitants  of  these  islands, 
the  Guanches ;  also  a  remarkable  assortment  of 
bottled  monstrosities,  as  to  whose  date  and  origin 
I  did  not  inquire.  The  new  opera-house  is  a  fine 
cream-coloured  stone  building,  the  interior  of  which 
was  not  yet  finished,  but  which,  if  it  has  not  been 
spoilt  by  paint  and  gilding,  should  now  be  very 
handsome.  All  the  mouldings  are  beautifully  carved 
in  pitch-pine,  and  it  went  to  my  heart  to  think  that 
they  would  soon  be  covered  up,  and  made  to  look 
like  ordinary  plaster- casts. 

The  cemetery  is  a  very  peculiar  institution,  its 
most  remarkable  feature  being  the  short  tenancy 
enjoyed  by  most  of  its  occupants.  A  large  part  of 
it  consists  of  a  quadrangle  whose  surrounding  walls 
are  pierced  with  niches  for  the  reception  of  coffins, 
which  only  remain  in  them  for  the  period — longer  or 
shorter,  according  to  the  means  of  the  deceased’s 
relatives — during  which  they  are  hired.  At  the  end. 
of  this  time  the  coffins  are  removed,  broken  up, 
and  their  contents  thrown  on  to  a  heap  of  similar 
remains  in  a  sort  of  backyard  adjoining  the  quad¬ 
rangle.  In  this  we  saw  piles  upon  piles  of  skulls 

s 


274 


THE  FORTUNATE  ISLES. 


and  bones  all  bleaching  in  the  sun,  with  here  and 
there  a  skeleton  from  which  the  skin  had  not  yet 
wholly  disappeared.  The  caretaker  was  so  accus¬ 
tomed  to  this  ghastly  sight  that  he  thought  nothing 
of  walking  about  on  the  top  of  these,  picking  up 
different  specimens  to  show  us. 

During  our  walks  in  the  country,  my  curiosity 
was  aroused  by  seeing  many  large  fields  of  prickly- 
pears,  the  top  shoots  of  which  were  all  carefully  tied 
up  with  bits  of  rag.  On  inquiring,  I  learned  that  it 
is  on  these  plants  that  the  cochineal  insect  feeds, 
and  that  for  fear  of  these  precious  little  bugs  drop¬ 
ping  off  and  getting  lost,  they  are  thus  made  prison¬ 
ers  on  their  feeding-grounds,  until  the  time  arrives 
when  they  are  collected  by  the  women  in  little 
wooden  trays,  and  then  left  to  die  and  dry  up  in 
the  sun. 

In  the  course  of  one  of  our  walks  near  the  town, 
we  came  across  some  curious  cave-dwellings  in  the 
face  of  the  cliff,  the  entrances  to  which,  being  coated 
with  a  circle  of  whitewash,  had  a  clean  look  at  a 
distance ;  but  the  appearance  of  such  of  the  inhab¬ 
itants  as  we  saw  did  not  tempt  us  to  explore  the 
interiors. 

Not  caring  much  for  Las  Palmas  or  its  neighbour¬ 
hood,  and  hearing  that  the  next  outward-bound  boat 
for  the  West  Coast  of  Africa  would  not  start  until 
the  9th  of  March,  we  determined  to  pass  the  re¬ 
mainder  of  our  enforced  stay  in  the  Canaries  at 


BONE  YARD  IN  LAS  PALMAS  CEMETERY. 


AN  OBJECTIONABLE  STEWARD. 


275 


Orotava,  in  the  island  of  Teneriffe.  We  were  told 
on  the  third  day  of  our  stay  at  Las  Palmas  that  the 
boat  was  sailing  for  Teneriffe  that  evening,  and  we 
went  to  the  agent’s  office  to  secure  our  tickets, 
hurried  back  to  the  hotel,  and  after  getting  a 
little  dinner,  started  off  for  the  port.  As  there 
was  no  one  to  take  our  things  on  board,  we  asked 
the  manager  if  he  could  get  it  done  for  us,  to 
which  he  at  once  answered  that  he  would  go  and 
do  it  himself  as  soon  as  he  could  be  missed ! 

At  nine  o’clock  we  embarked  on  board  the  “  Leone 
Castillo.”  She  was  a  small  uncomfortable  boat,  and 
it  struck  me  she  might  be  very  nasty  if  there  was 
any  sea  on.  Luckily  it  was  beautifully  calm,  and 
bright  moonlight.  We  were  received  by  the  steward 
— a  fat,  dirty  little  boy — who  followed  us  like  our 
shadow.  I  happened  to  ask  him  what  were  the 
green  lights  I  saw  ahead,  so  he  comfortably  installed 
himself  in  a  chair  opposite  us,  and  lighting  a  cigar¬ 
ette,  told  us  it  was  the  wreck  of  an  Italian  ship 
which  had  raced  a  Spanish  merchant-ship  into  the 
harbour  some  days  before.  A  collision  took  place, 
and  she  sank  so  rapidly  that  seventy  lives  were  lost, 
though  they  were  only  two  hundred  yards  from  the 
breakwater. 

Not  being  able  to  get  rid  of  this  objectionable 
boy,  we  retired  to  our  cabin,  where  we  luckily  dis¬ 
covered  in  time  that  our  sheets  were  quite  damp, 
and  had  again  to  make  use  of  our  blanket-bags. 


276 


THE  FORTUNATE  ISLES. 


The  night  was  to  prove  sleepless  for  me,  thanks  to 
the  “  Spanish  kangaroos,”  as  I  heard  some  one  de¬ 
scribe  them  at  Las  Palmas.  I  had  been  told  that 
if  I  went  on  deck  about  3  a.m.  I  should  see  the 
beautiful  Peak  of  Teneriffe,  and  the  wonderful 
shadow  it  casts  on  the  sea  on  a  moonlight  night ; 
so  in  the  middle  of  the  night  I  crept  up,  but  saw 
nothing  but  banks  of  clouds. 

We  arrived  at  six,  anchored  off  Santa  Cruz, 
breakfasted  there,  and  started  off  about  ten  o’clock 
to  drive  to  Orotava,  where  we  stayed  for  a  fortnight. 
Being  in  great  want  of  rest,  we  went  no  excursions, 
and  our  life  there  was  a  very  idle  one,  and  would 
have  been  thoroughly  enjoyable  but  for  the  cold, 
which  we,  coming  straight  from  the  tropics,  felt 
acutely,  although  the  other  English  visitors,  lately 
arrived  from  the  chilly  North,  were  complaining  of 
the  heat.  My  one  excitement  was  my  daily  lesson 
on  the  guitar  from  the  barber  of  the  place,  after  he 
had  shaved  Harry ;  and  with  reading,  sketching, 
and  taking  photographs,  our  days  were  filled  up  in 
this  lovely  quiet  spot.  The  Carnival  began  the 
day  before  we  left ;  and  a  party  of  us  went  into  the 
streets  to  see  the  masquerade,  and  got  well  pelted 
with  eggs  which  had  been  emptied  of  their  contents, 
filled  with  sawdust  and  flour,  and  then  secured  with 
a  piece  of  paper  stuck  over  the  hole. 

We  went  back  to  Santa  Cruz  on  Tuesday,  March 
the  5th,  where  we  came  in  for  a  second  egg-pelting 


START  FOR  SIERRA  LEONE. 


277 


as  we  drove  through  the  streets.  We  stayed  there 
two  nights,  but  I  saw  nothing  of  the  town,  being 
laid  up  with  one  of  my  ever-recurring  attacks  of 
fever;  and  having  booked  places  for  Sierra  Leone, 
we  left  Santa  Cruz  on  Thursday  the  7th  of  March, 
on  board  the  “  Benguela.” 


278 


BOOK  VIII. 

THE  LAND  OP  DEATH. 


I. 

The  West  Coast  boats  bad  always  been  painted  to 
me  in  such  gloomy  colours  that  I  had  expected  that 
I  should  now  begin  really  to  “  rough  it,”  and  was 
therefore  very  agreeably  disappointed  to  find  myself 
more  comfortable  than  I  had  been  in  any  ship  since 
leaving  England.  The  Captain,  a  dear  old  man, 
seemed  to  think  everything  would  be  too  rough  and 
uncomfortable  for  me  on  the  West  Coast,  so  he  did 
his  very  best  to  make  things  on  board  as  nice  as 
possible.  We  had  the  large  ladies’-cabin,  airy  and 
with  a  big  skylight,  and  which,  with  its  good-sized 
table  and  berths,  turning  into  sofas  by  day,  was 
more  like  a  sitting-room  than  anything  we  had  yet 
seen  on  board  ship.  We  always  found  it  a  cool 
and  quiet  spot,  where  we  were  able  to  spend  many 
hours  reading  and  writing. 

There  was  a  great  mixture  of  nationalities  on 


ON  THE  ROAD  TO  OROTAVA. 


THE  “  BENGUELA’S  ”  PASSENGERS. 


279 


board.  Two  young  Belgians,  who  were  on  their 
way  to  the  Congo  accompanied  by  a  young  Syrian 
interpreter,  Suliman,  whom  they  always  called 
Salomon,  a  sly,  thin,  cringing,  despicable  piece  of 
humanity,  like  most  of  his  class.  A  Dane,  who 
spoke  English  easily,  and  looked  like  a  Scotsman. 
A  Russian  missionary  with  a  kind  intelligent  face, 
who  seemed  full  of  the  work  he  was  about  to  under¬ 
take  :  he  did  not  know  a  word  of  the  language  of 
the  people  among  whom  he  was  going,  but  said  he 
would  very  soon  pick  it  up,  as  it  had  only  taken 
him  sis  weeks  to  learn  English,  which  he  spoke  as 
fluently  as  he  spoke  French  and  German.  A  red- 
bearded  Englishman  going  out  to  Bonny  as  head- 
clerk  in  the  telegraph  office.  An  Irishman,  who  had 
come  out  as  the  ship’s  doctor  just  for  the  trip.  A 
French-Swiss.  And  last,  but  not  least,  a  very  short, 
fat  man,  who  seemed  to  suffer  very  much  from  the 
heat,  and  who,  we  were  told,  was  a  German-Swiss 
called  Schmitt.  From  his  conversation  we  gathered 
that  he  dabbled  in  commerce  on  that  coast,  and  had 
done  a  little  exploring  up  country  from  Sierra 
Leone.  Since  my  return  home  I  have  found  out 
that  our  friend  Schmitt — whose  name  we  discovered 
later  was  really  Zweifel — was  no  other  than  the  great 
Swiss  explorer,  and  discoverer  of  the  sources  of 
the  Niger.  From  the  look  of  him  one  would  never 
have  guessed  that  he  could  have  gone  through  so 
much  walking  and  roughing  it  as  he  must  have 

o  o  o 


280 


THE  LAND  OF  DEATH. 


undergone  in  his  many  journeys  up  country  quite 
alone,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  natives  to  carry 
his  goods. 

We  began  by  having  very  cold  weather,  as  instead 
of  getting  into  the  trades,  we  had  an  unusual  south¬ 
west  wind  blowing  against  us,  making  our  progress 
slow.  The  ship  was  as  full  as  she  could  hold,  and  a 
great  part  of  her  deck  was  covered  with  “sleepers” 
for  the  use  of  the  Loanda  Railway. 

Very  often  in  the  evening  the  Belgians  used  to 
call  Salomon  on  deck  to  amuse  us  with  his  extreme 
sharpness  and  powers  of  mimicry.  The  only  other 
time  of  day  we  ever  saw  him  was  early  in  the 
morning  smoking  a  cigarette  in  his  shirt-sleeves, 
the  dirtiest  of  the  dirty.  He  always  had  a  penny 
whistle  in  his  pocket,  and  when  asked  for  a  song 
he  played  the  accompaniment  first,  then  sang  the 
words,  and  so  on  verse  after  verse.  His  imitation 
of  two  Frenchmen  conversing  was  very  clever,  full 
of  gesticulation,  with  the  longest  words  he  could 
find  in  his  vocabulary.  His  mimicry  of  animals 
was  equally  good,  and  he  seemed  to  have  a  whole 
menagerie  in  his  throat.  He  generally  ended  his 
performance  by  singing  in  Arabic,  with  that  curious 
droning  nasal  sound  that  runs  through  their  songs. 

On  Tuesday,  March  the  12th,  we  got  well  into  the 
trades,  and  it  became  pleasantly  hot  with  a  smooth 
sea.  The  next  day  we  anchored  off  the  island  of 
Goree  about  10  a.m,,  and  were  disappointed  to  find 


GOREE. 


281 


that  Dakar  on  the  mainland  was  too  far  off  for  ns 
to  have  time  to  visit  the  town  before  the  ship  sailed 
again.  The  agent  for  the  line  of  steamers  came  on 
board  to  make  arrangements  for  embarking  French 
bine-jackets  on  their  way  to  join  their  ships  in  the 
Gaboon,  and  on  his  return  to  Goree  he  took  us 
with  him,  and  left  us  to  see  the  town  by  ourselves. 
The  island  is  very  small,  and  after  having  walked 
through  a  few  streets,  we  had  seen  the  whole  of 
the  French  settlement,  except  the  fort,  which  is 
situated  on  one  of  the  points.  A  steep  hill  leads 
up  to  it,  which  we  climbed,  and  found  ourselves 
in  front  of  a  closed  doorway.  All  was  so  quiet 
we  began  to  think  there  was  no  one  there.  We, 
however,  knocked  on  the  chance,  and  were  answered 
by  a  volley  of  threats  and  abuse  in  French,  to 
which  I  replied  by  again  knocking  and  asking  if 
we  might  come  in.  A  soldier  then  came,  and  smiled 
when  he  saw  us,  saying  he  had  thought  it  was 
the  little  black  boys  who  amused  themselves  by 
hammering  all  day  on  the  door.  The  Captain  then 
appeared,  a  very  nice  man,  who  took  us  to  see  the 
view  of  the  surrounding  country  from  one  of  the 
highest  parapets.  We  then  went  and  sat  in  his  cool 
little  sitting-room.  He  seemed  so  pleased  to  get  one 
of  his  own  class  to  talk  to,  as  he  could  not  often  go 
over  to  Dakar.  It  must  be  a  trying  exile  for  a  man 
like  that  to  live  so  much  alone,  and  with  no  com¬ 
forts  to  make  life  easier.  He  accompanied  us  down 


282 


THE  LAND  OF  DEATH. 


tlie  hill  to  the  town,  where  we  took  a  sailing-boat 
and  went  off  to  the  ship. 

About  three  o’clock  the  French  sailors  arrived 
from  Dakar  in  a  lighter  towed  by  a  steam-launch. 
There  was  not  room  for  all  on  board,  so  some  had 
to  remain  behind  and  wait  for  the  next  steamer 
that  would  take  them.  It  made  me  quite  sad  to  see 
some  of  them — mere  boys  just  come  straight  from 
France  —  going  to  live  in  such  a  deadly  climate, 
where  probably  half  their  number  would  not  sur¬ 
vive.  The  part  of  the  ship  chosen  for  them  was 
that  already  crowded  with  “sleepers”  under  the 
awning,  which  left  them  so  little  room  that  most  of 
them  had  to  sleep  out  in  the  open,  and  cook  their 
food  as  best  they  could.  Their  high  spirits  never 
failed  them,  and  it  was  only  when  in  the  evenings 
they  sang  in  chorus  some  beautiful  and  touching 
songs  in  which  were  ever-recurring  regrets  at  having- 
left  “  La  belle  Patrie,”  that  one  felt  how  well  they 
realised  that  it  might  be  for  the  last  time  they  had 
said  farewell  to  their  country. 

We  were  at  sea  all  Thursday  and  Friday,  and 
nothing  occurred  worth  mentioning  —  beyond  a 
heavy  swell  which  made  the  vessel  pitch  badly — 
until  Friday  evening,  when  a  tornado  came  on. 
The  first  sign  we  had  of  it  was  a  bank  of  black 
clouds  ahead  making  a  hard  line  against  the  other 
part  of  the  sky,  which  was  clear  and  lit  up  by  the 
moon.  The  Captain  warned  us  the  storm  would 


SIEEEA  LEONE. 


283 


break  suddenly,  and  told  us  to  be  ready  to  run  down 
below.  The  wind  got  up,  and  before  we  knew  where 
we  were  a  tremendous  shower  came  down.  The 
poor  French  sailors  got  their  bedding  quite  wet,  and 
went  about  trying  to  find  a  dry  corner  to  sleep  in  ; 
not  an  easy  matter,  as  such  heavy  rain  went  through 
all  the  awnings.  In  a  few  minutes  it  was  over,  and 
the  air  felt  fresher,  though  still  very  “  hothousey.” 

On  the  morning  of  the  16th  we  steamed  into  the 
mouth  of  the  Sierra  Leone  river,  a  broad  and  beau¬ 
tiful  estuary  lined  with  luxuriant  tropical  vegetation, 
on  the  left  bank  of  which  rises  the  high  green  ridge 
from  which  the  colony  derives  its  name,  and  on  the 
slope  of  which  is  situated  the  capital,  Freetown,  off 
which  we  cast  anchor  at  6.30  a.m.  We  were  soon 
boarded  by  a  clamouring  crowd  of  negro  boatmen, 
but  were  able  to  dispense  with  their  persistently 
offered  services,  thanks  to  the  harbour-master,  who 
took  us  ashore  in  his  gig.  In  spite  of  the  early 
hour  we  at  once  called  on  Major  Crookes,  the 
Governor’s  A.D.C. — the  Governor  being  away  down 
the  coast — who  kindly  volunteered  to  show  us  about 
the  place. 

Viewed  from  the  sea,  Freetown  is  as  pretty  a 
place  as  one  could  wish  to  see  anywhere,  but  the 
same  can  hardly  be  said  of  it  when  seen  at  closer 
quarters.  The  streets,  though  broad,  are  dirty  and 
ill  kept,  and  there  is  a  general  appearance  of  mildew 
and  decay  about  the  houses  which  has  the  most 


284 


THE  LAND  OF  DEATH. 


depressing  effect.  Even  the  flowers,  beautiful  as 
they  are,  are  so  heavily  scented  as  to  heighten  the 
depressing  influence  of  the  climate.  The  only  lively 
objects  about  the  place  were  some  little  birds  with 
bright  metallic-looking  plumage,  which  flew  hither 
and  thither  among  the  trees.  We  had  but  little  time 
to  form  a  personal  opinion  of  the  much-abused  Sierra 
Leone  natives.  We,  however,  visited  the  market, 
full  of  cheery  negresses  cackling  over  their  varied 
wares,  among  which  I  noticed  some  immense  plaited 
hats,  which,  owing  to  the  ends  of  the  straws  having 
been  left  sticking  out  about  three  inches,  had  a 
curious  shaggy  appearance.  We  also  went  to  a 
chemist’s  shop  to  buy  some  photographic  chemicals. 
Stumbling  over  a  little  monkey  gnawing  a  banana 
in  the  doorway,  we  entered  a  long  barnlike  room, 
along  whose  length  ran  a  counter,  over  which  the 
proprietor,  a  gentleman  of  colour,  was  leaning  in 
conversation  with  an  overdressed  negress.  So  in¬ 
terested  were  they  in  each  other,  that  it  was  a  full 
quarter  of  an  hour  before  either  of  them  deigned  to 
notice  our  presence.  At  the  end  of  that  time  the 
man  condescended  to  inquire  whether  we  wanted 
anything.  So  leisurely  was  he  in  his  movements 
that  by  the  time  our  modest  \  lb.  of  hyposul¬ 
phite  of  soda  had  been  weighed  out  and  paid  for, 
the  hour  had  arrived  at  which  our  ship  was  due  to 
leave ;  so  hurrying  back,  we  returned  on  board. 

All  the  passengers  were  on  deck  watching  her 


SASS  TOWN. 


285 


Majesty’s  ship  “Archer”  steam  into  the  harbour,  with 
the  exception  of  Schmitt ;  and  as  we  were  just  get¬ 
ting  under  way,  I  inquired  if  he  was  not  likely  to 
be  left  behind.  I  was  told,  however,  that  he  was 
safe  on  board,  but  concealed  in  his  cabin.  It  seems 
that  during  one  of  his  explorations  he  had  killed 
some  Sierra  Leone  natives  in  self-defence,  and  that 
although  he  had  been  tried  for  this  and  acquitted, 
their  relations  had  vowed  vengeance ;  so  that  his 
assumed  name  and  temporary  retirement  were  due 
to  his  fear  of  being  lynched. 

Soon  afterwards  we  steamed  off  again  to  the 
southward,  generally  keeping  well  in  sight  of  the 
long  low  line  of  palms,  the  strip  of  sand,  and  the 
fringe  of  breakers  which  are  characteristic  of  this 
part  of  the  African  coast.  In  the  early  morning 
of  the  second  day  we  anchored  for  a  short  time  oft' 
Sass  Town,  a  large  village  on  the  Liberian  coast ; 
and  again,  an  hour  later,  off  Grand  Sesters,  the 
latter  a  very  large  native  village  of  conical-roofed 
round  mud-huts,  most  picturesquely  situated  in  a 
banana-grove  between  a  thick  forest  and  a  large 
tract  of  cultivation. 

One  object  of  our  call  at  both  places  was  the 
collection  of  “  Kru  boys  ”  for  the  coast  factories  ;  and 
hardly  had  the  echoes  of  the  gun  announcing  our 
arrival  died  away  than  the  whole  male  population 
were  afloat,  racing  towards  us  in  canoes  big  and 
small,  but  all  of  the  “dug  out”  class,  and  all  ex- 


286 


THE  LAND  OF  DEATH. 


tremely  rickety  and  dilapidated-looking.  Much  to 
our  Captain’s  disappointment,  however,  none  of  them 
wished  to  engage  themselves,  and  I  do  not  know 
why  they  were  in  such  a  hurry  to  come  out,  for 
they  had  nothing  to  sell  —  not  even  themselves. 
They  seemed  thoroughly  to  enjoy  themselves,  bob¬ 
bing  up  and  down  in  the  swell,  and  chaffing  our 
crew,  while  the  little  boys  made  expressive  signs 
that  they  would  like  some  food,  and  one  and  all 
addressed  me  as  “  Mammy.”  The  “  Kru  boy  ” 
seems  to  be  a  very  good  -  natured  hard  -  working 
savage,  of  magnificent  build,  and,  I  believe,  both 
honest  and  amenable  to  discipline  while  fulfilling 
his  usual  one  or  two  years’  engagement  with  a  white 
trader,  but,  I  am  told,  makes  up  for  it  on  his  return 
by  utterly  defying  the  Liberian  Government — whom 
he  speaks  of  contemptuously  as  “  them  Melican 
man  ” — and  showing  a  general  disregard  for  the  Ten 
or  any  other  Commandments  that  may  be  brought 
to  his  notice.  It  is,  however,  certainly  on  him  that 
the  prosperity  of  this  coast  depends,  he  being  the 
only  living  thing  that  can  be  induced  to  do  a  stroke 
of  work.  The  “Kru  boys  ”  seem  to  be  very  quick  at 
picking  up  the  curious  pigeon  English  which  they 
talk,  or  indeed  any  other  language  except  German, 
of  which  they  say,  “  German  mouth  too  much 
hard ;  ”  but  I  must  say  their  English  is  rather  re¬ 
markable,  and  difficult  to  understand.  For  instance, 
if  one  of  them  is  asked  if  he  has  found  something 


CAPE  PALMAS. 


A  “  KRU-BOY  ”  MENU. 


287 


which  he  has  lost,  he  answers,  “Yes,  I  no  found 
him.”  The  following  is  a  menu  concocted  by  a 
“  Kru-boy  ”  cook,  which,  with  its  translation,  has 
been  lately  given  to  me  : — 


10th  Sept.  1S92. 
Book. 

Soup  crazy. 

Big  fish  cold. 

Fowl  small  chop. 

Beef  no  catch  brain. 
Cow-belly. 

Fowl  for  pot. 

Dem  peach. 

Bla  for  piccin. 

Plum  for  soft  side. 
Stink  butter. 

All  dem  sweet  mouth. 


Deji  Big  House  foe  Hill. 


10th  Sept.  1S92. 

Menu. 

Soup  cressy. 

Cold  salmon. 

Fowl  cutlets. 

Braised  beef. 

Tripe. 

Boiled  fowl. 

Peaches. 

Rice  pudding. 

Stewed  Plums. 

Cheese. 

Dessert. 


H.B.M.’s  Consulate-General. 


Early  next  morning  we  rounded  Cape  Palmas, 
a  pretty  palm -covered  promontory,  boasting  the 
unusual  luxury  of  a  lighthouse,  but  nevertheless 
adorned  with  wrecks ;  then  changing  our  course  to 
the  east,  we  anchored  at  noon  off  Tabu,  near  enough 
to  the  land  to  get  a  good  whiff  of  miasmic  gases, 
which  reminded  me  strongly  of  Madagascar.  Tabu 
has  one  large  European  factory  on  a  big  black 
rock  overhanging  the  sea  on  the  left  bank  of  a 
pretty  little  creek,  beyond  which  is  the  native 
village  and  its  usual  background  of  palms.  I  was 
anxious  to  land  and  have  a  stroll,  but  the  surf 


288 


THE  LAND  OF  DEATH. 


was  so  bad  that  the  Captain  would  not  let  me,  so 
I  had  to  content  myself  with  sketching  it  from  the 
ship  ;  while  to  console  me  for  missing  a  “  curio  ” 
hunt,  Mr  Fothergill,  the  purser,  gave  me  a  native 
piano,  a  closed  box  about  seven  inches  long  by 
three  wide  and  one  deep,  ornamented  with  burnt-in 
designs,  on  the  top  of  which  are  fixed  eight  strips 


Tabu. 


of  bamboo  fastened  at  one  end,  the  other  being 
raised  by  means  of  a  little  wooden  bridge. 

Oar  change  of  course  brought  us  a  fresher  breeze, 
and  as  we  also  stood  out  farther  to  sea  the  tempera¬ 
ture  was  very  pleasant ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  we 
missed  the  amusement,  which  we  had  between  Sierra 


ACCRA. 


289 


Leone  and  Cape  Palmas,  of  watching  through  a 
glass  the  various  aspects  of  the  palm-fringed  shore, 
with  its  succession  of  native  villages.  During  the 
next  two  days  we  only  sighted  two  of  these,  Winne- 
bah  and  Barracoe,  the  former  a  pretty  spot  backed 
by  high  land,  and  possessing  several  large  European 
houses,  while  the  latter  is  marked  by  the  appear¬ 
ance,  for  the  first  time,  of  square  huts  in  place  of 
the  bee-hive  shape  of  farther  north  and  west. 

A  little  before  mid-day  on  the  21st  we  reached 
Accra,  the  capital  of  the  Gold  Coast,  an  imposing- 
looking  place,  built  on  a  high  bank  overhanging  the 
beach.  We  landed  in  the  surf-boat  that  came  off 
for  the  mails.  I  was  told  that  this  safe  roomy  con¬ 
veyance  has  only  been  used  on  the  Coast  since  the 
Ashanti  war,  when  they  were  brought  out  for  the 
purpose  of  landing  troops  and  stores ;  and  after  my 
experience  in  her,  I  felt  very  thankful  that  King 
KofB.  Kalkali  had  been  evilly  advised  to  defy  us, 
and  thus  bring  about  the  introduction  of  some  more 
seaworthy  craft  than  the  native  dug-out. 

Our  steamer  having  anchored  some  way  out,  we 
had  a  twenty  minutes’  row,  or  rather  paddle,  to  the 
shore,  and  I  had  ample  opportunity  of  studying  the 
boatmen  and  their  ways.  The  boat  was  manned  by 
eleven  strong  well-built  natives  of  varied  types,  one 
of  whom  steered  in  the  stern  with  a  paddle,  while 
the  others,  five  on  each  side,  sat  close  against  the 
edge  of  the  boat,  each  steadying  himself  by  a  ring 

T 


290 


THE  LAND  OF  DEATH. 


of  rope  through  which  he  passed  his  great  toe.  The 
boat  standing  high  out  of  the  water,  they  had  to 
bend  right  over  the  sides  at  each  stroke  to  reach 
the  water  with  their  short  three-pronged  paddles, 
all  the  time  uttering  curious  sounds,  which  grew 
louder  as  the  waves  got  higher.  At  first  it  seemed 
as  if  a  continuous  line  of  surf  cut  us  off  from  the 
shore,  but  as  we  got  nearer  I  noticed  that  there 
were  openings  in  this  here  and  there.  Steering  for 
one  of  these,  the  men  paddle  slowly  on  until  they 
see  that  a  larger  wave  than  usual  is  about  to  over¬ 
take  them  ;  then  putting  on  a  spurt,  the  boat  is 
impelled  forward  at  furious  speed  on  the  top  of  the 
boiling  breaker,  whose  roar  the  men  try  their  best 
to  silence  by  the  ever-increasing  loudness  of  their 
song.  Blinded  by  salt  foam,  deafened  by  noise, 
and  bewildered  by  the  rush  of  waters,  I  had  hardly 
time  to  wonder  what  was  going  to  happen  next, 
when  a  crash  brought  me  to  my  senses,  and  on  to 
my  nose,  and  I  found  myself  seized  by  four  strong 
black  men,  and  carried  safe  but  dripping  to  the 
beach. 

Ascending  a  flight  of  steps  cut  in  the  face  of  the 
cliff,  and  followed  by  a  crowd  of  little  naked  blacka¬ 
moors,  we  found  ourselves  on  the  edge  of  the  town. 
We  went  first  to  see  the  Comptroller  of  Customs  to 
find  out  if  the  Governor  was  then  at  Accra ;  but 
as  he  was  at  Christiernbourg,  an  old  Danish  fort  on 
a  rather  high  part  of  the  cliff  about  two  miles  to 


A  NATIVE  AMBASSADOR. 


291 


the  eastward,  we  found  that  we  had  not  time  to 
drive  over  to  see  him. 

While  we  were  waiting,  an  ambassador  from  one 
of  the  chiefs  of  the  interior,  with  whom  the  Comp¬ 
troller  had  been  having  an  interview,  came  out — 
a  most  curious-looking  individual,  whose  appearance 
reminded  me  forcibly  of  the  picture  in  a  child’s 
book  of  Bible  stories  of  the  high  priest,  dressed  as 
he  was  in  long  garments,  and  wearing  suspended 
on  his  breast  a  square  embossed  gilt  ornament,  the 
size  and  shape  of  Aaron’s  breastplate.  Behind  him 
walked  three  black  boys,  the  centre  one  carrying, 
in  an  upright  position  in  front  of  him,  a  very 
formidable-looking  weapon,  the  blade  of  which  was 
a  foot  wide,  tapering  down  to  the  point  and  handle, 
and  having  a  pierced  design  all  over  it.  The  handle 
was  in  shape  and  size  like  a  gilt  pine  -  apple  of 
medium  size,  and  starting  from  it  was  wThat  looked 
like  a  snake  coiling  up  the  blade,  the  whole  thing 
being  about  three  feet  in  length. 

After  our  short  visit  to  the  Comptroller,  we  started 
off  to  see  the  town,  accompanied  by  a  little  black 
boy  whom  he  lent  to  us  as  a  guide.  Though  lacking 
the  distant  beauty  of  Sierra  Leone,  the  town  is  far 
superior  to  it  on  closer  inspection.  The  houses  are 
large,  clean-looking,  and  well  built ;  the  streets  broad 
and  well  kept ;  even  the  native  huts  are  far  better 
than  any  we  saw  elsewhere  on  the  coast ;  and  the 
place  has  certainly  a  general  air  of  prosperity,  and 


292 


THE  LAND  OF  DEATH. 


even  healthiness,  though  in  this  respect  I  fear  ap¬ 
pearances  are  rather  deceptive.  The  shops,  too, 
seemed  good  and  plentiful,  mostly  full  of  European 
goods,  among  which  were  some  very  pretty  cotton 
prints,  and  great  varieties  of  coloured  beads.  It 
was  studying  the  natives,  however,  that  most  in¬ 
terested  me.  A  great  many  of  the  small  boys  had 
their  one  garment  kept  on  by  two  rows  of  beads 
fastened  round  their  waist,  while  most  of  the  women 
had  only  a  piece  of  checked  duster  stuff  hanging 
from  their  hips  down  to  their  knees.  Their  hair 
is  done  up  in  curious  tight  cones  four  inches  high, 
standing  straight  up  on  the  top  of  their  heads,  some¬ 
what  like  a  clown’s  wig ;  but  two  women  whom  we 
met  looked  most  civilised  in  European  hats  of  a 
long-past  fashion,  though  their  short-sleeved  cotton 
dresses  with  low-cut  bodices  made  a  strange  contrast 
with  their  dark  skins. 

After  wandering  through  many  small  streets  we 
entered  the  main  one,  and  soon  found  ourselves  in 
the  shade  of  the  fine  gnarled  old  cotton-tree  which 
stands  in  the  middle  of  the  market-place.  A  veri¬ 
table  Nijni  Novgorod  of  Western  Africa  it  seemed, 
containing  specimens  of  all  varieties  of  its  sons, 
from  the  light-skinned  white-robed  Moor,  his  darker 
brother  in  faith  the  Houssa,  the  half-nautically 
dressed  “  Kru  boy,”  and  the  black-coated  “  coloured 
gentleman  ”  of  Sierra  Leone,  to  the  untutored  and 
unclothed  inhabitants  of  the  lower  Niger. 


NEGRESS,  ACCRA. 


THE  BAZAAR  AT  ACCRA. 


293 


The  goods  on  sale  were  as  various  as  tlieir  sellers. 
Long  flint-guns,  pipes,  tobacco,  calabashes,  cotton 
stuffs,  straw  hats — broad-brimmed,  narrow-brimmed, 
and  brimless — looking-glasses,  tin  mugs,  skins,  meat, 
fruit  and  vegetables  of  all  kinds,  the  latter  being 
mostly  offered  by  contented-looking  old  negresses, 
who  squatted  by  the  side  of  their  baskets  without 
making  much  effort  to  dispose  of  their  wares.  Not 
so,  however,  the  owners  of  the  carved  wooden  stools 
of  the  country.  Having  bought  one  of  these— I  sup¬ 
pose  at  an  exorbitant  figure — we  were  pestered  all 
the  way  back  by  would-be  vendors  of  these  articles, 
the  word  having  apparently  been  passed  down  the 
street  that  we  were  willing  to  relieve  all  families  of 
their  superfluous  furniture.  It  was  the  hottest  part 
of  the  day,  and  in  spite  of  a  nice  breeze  we  wTere 
beginning  to  feel  that  lunch,  and  a  nap  in  a  deck¬ 
chair  afterwards,  would  not  be  amiss,  so  we  refused 
most  of  the  numerous  offers  to  step  inside ;  but  in 
response  to  one  man,  whose  mysterious  manner  led 
us  to  believe  that  he  had  something  particularly 
tempting,  we  followed  him  up  a  narrow  passage, 
through  a  dark  court  into  a  low  stuffy  room,  from 
a  corner  of  which  he  produced  an  ordinary  green 
parrot.  But  as  I  had  been  told  that  I  should  prob¬ 
ably  return  home  in  a  ship  full  of  them,  I  declined 
his  offer. 

On  returning  to  the  ship  we  found  the  sea  had  risen 
a  good  deal ;  and  as  the  surf-boat  could  not  be  kept 


West  African  Wares . 


1.  Loofas. 

2.  Kru  boy’s  tooth-brush. 

3.  Accra  fan. 

4.  Earthenware  musical  jar. 

5.  Wooden  pillow. 


6.  Kru  boy’s  piano. 

7.  Girdle  of  cowrie  shells. 

8.  Manilla  coins. 

9.  Needle-case. 

10.  Girdle  of  cowrie  shells. 
16.  Broom. 


11.  Carved  gourd. 

12.  Model  of  canoe. 

13.  Grass  haversack. 

14.  Round  basket. 

15.  Accra  comb. 


prince’s  island. 


295 


alongside  the  companion-steps  without  fear  of  break¬ 
ing  them,  I  had  to  climb  up  a  rope-ladder. 

Our  ship  ought  to  have  gone  round  the  Bight  of 
Benin  to  Old  Calabar,  and  then  southward ;  but  as 
the  Captain  thought  it  desirable  to  land  the  French 
sailors  as  soon  as  possible,  he  made  straight  from 
Accra  to  the  mouth  of  the  Gaboon. 

On  Friday  afternoon  we  had  another  tornado, 
which  seemed  as  if  it  was  going  to  blow  us  out  of 
the  water  wThile  it  lasted,  but  it  left  the  air  deli¬ 
ciously  cool,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  most  lovely 
phosphorescence  I  have  ever  seen,  the  wake  of  the 
ship  being  a  positive  blaze  of  light. 

"We  passed  close  to  Prince’s  Island  the  next 
evening  at  eight,  when  it  was  unfortunately  too 
dark  to  see  it.  I  was  very  sorry  for  this,  as,  judging 
from  the  account  of  it  in  the  ‘African  Pilot,’  which 
I  quote,  it  must  be  a  remarkable  sight.  It  is  only 
nine  miles  long,  and  “  consists  of  a  series  of  steep 
and  rugged  mountains  surmounted  by  gigantic 
obelisks  of  most  fantastic  shapes,  the  whole  culmi¬ 
nating  in  a  peak  2700  feet  above  the  sea,  and  is 
in  its  physical  features  and  aspect  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  in  the  world.”  It  is  also  interesting  as 
being  one  of  the  six  volcanic  cones  which  run  in  a 
straight  line  in  a  south-westerly  direction  from  the 
Cameroon  Mountains,  12,700  feet  above  the  sea. 
A  glance  at  the  map  shows  that  a  line  drawn  from 
the  Rumbi  Mountain  to  Anna  Bom  Island  passes 


296 


THE  LAND  OF  DEATH. 


through  every  one  of  these  peaks,  all  evidently  the 
result  of  one  vast  volcanic  upheaval. 

We  ought  to  have  sighted  the  mouth  of  the 
Gaboon  on  Sunday  morning  the  24th  of  March, 
but  owing  to  a  pouring  rain  nothing  could  be  seen 
a  mile  ahead.  The  ship  was  stopped  several  times 
that  soundings  might  be  taken  ;  and  having  got  to 
fifteen  fathoms,  the  Captain  felt  sure  that  land  must 
be  near ;  so  he  anchored,  hoping  the  heavy  rain 
would  soon  clear,  and  let  him  know  his  whereabouts. 
We  then  all  had  lunch  ;  still  nothing  was  to  be  seen, 
when  suddenly  on  our  right,  instead  of  ahead  of  us 
as  was  expected,  the  land  appeared  quite  close.  We 
were  just  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Gaboon,  into 
which  we  steamed  between  Cape  Joinville  and 
Pongara  Point,  and  two  hours  later  were  at 
anchor  off  Libreville,  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
broad  estuary,  which  takes  its  name  from  the  larger 
of  the  three  rivers  flowing  into  it.  The  heavy  rain 
had  perhaps  a  depressing  effect,  and  at  any  rate 
obscured  all  view  of  the  distance ;  but  I  certainly 
was  not  struck  with  the  beauties  of  the  place,  which 
consists  of  a  small  cluster  of  European  houses  situ¬ 
ated  on  the  slope  of  the  low  range  of  hills  lin¬ 
ing  the  left  bank  of  the  estuary.  The  right  bank 
is  low  and  uninteresting,  and  between  it  and  Libre¬ 
ville  extends  a  broad  expanse  of  lead-coloured  water. 
I  was  told  that  the  settlement  was  much  less  flourish¬ 
ing  than  it  had  formerly  been,  the  chief  cause  of 


LIBREVILLE. 


297 


diminution  of  trade  being  the  heavy  duties  imposed 
and  the  new  markets  opened.  Before  the  European 
scramble  for  Africa  began,  the  Gaboon  was  the  only 
port  within  reach  to  which  natives  of  this  part  could 
bring  their  goods.  Now,  with  the  Congo  on  the 
south  and  the  Germans  on  the  north,  the  native 
naturally  paddles  his  canoe  down  the  river  which 
happens  to  lead  to  the  best  market. 

The  harbour,  however,  is  a  magnificent  one,  and  in 
it  were  lying  three  French  men-of-war  :  “  L’Alceste,” 
used  as  a  guard-ship,  “  Le  Pourvoyeur,”  and  “  Le 
Sane,”  on  board  which  we  had  dined  at  Cape  Town, 
and  on  whose  Captain  we  at  once  went  to  call.  We 
were  nearly  blown  out  of  our  boat  by  a  salute,  at 
extremely  close  quarters,  of— I  forget  exactly  how 
many  guns — in  honour  of  Admiral  Brown  Coulston, 
whose  ship,  “  L’Arethuse,”  was  just  steaming  in  ;  and 
found  our  friend  Commandant  Fournier  in  full 
tog,  just  preparing  to  step  into  his  gig  to  meet  the 
Admiral.  So  arranging  to  meet  later  in  the  day,  we 
went  ashore  and  explored  as  much  of  the  place  as 
was  to  be  seen  in  the  drenching  rain. 

After  walking  for  about  a  mile  down  a  pretty 
avenue  of  cocoa-palms  by  the  sea-shore,  we  found 
nothing  more  interesting  than  a  cafe  full  of  French¬ 
men  enjoying  a  Sunday  chat  and  Vermont;  so,  turn¬ 
ing  to  the  right,  we  struck  inland,  and  describing 
a  semicircle,  re  -  entered  the  town  by  the  Gover¬ 
nor’s  house  and  the  barracks,  into  both  of  which 


298 


THE  LAND  OF  DEATH. 


the  occupants  had  very  sensibly  retired.  Finding 
ourselves  back  at  the  pier  and  drenched  through, 
we  determined  to  follow  their  wise  example,  and 
hailing  a  boat,  were  on  the  point  of  giving  the 
order  “  Home,”  when  we  were  invited  to  go 
over  “  L’Alceste.”  We  found  her  a  comfortable  old- 
fashioned  ship,  with  big  square  port-holes  well  out 
of  water,  and  chiefly  given  up  to  hospital  accom¬ 
modation  :  on  board  her  were  several  of  our  late 
fellow  -  passengers,  the  French  sailors,  comfortably 
settled  down,  and  very  pleased  to  have  a  deck  over 
as  well  as  under  them. 

At  6.30  on  the  following  morning  we  steamed  out, 
and  turned  again  to  the  northward,  with  much 
regret  on  my  part,  as  I  was  very  anxious  to  visit 
the  Congo,  about  which  I  had  heard  so  much  from 
all  on  board. 

It  continued  to  rain  all  that  day,  being  still  the 
rainy  season  on  the  part  of  the  coast  nearest  to  the 
Equator.  On  the  next  day,  however,  we  got  into 
the  district  where  the  rains  begin  in  April  and  end 
in  September.  They  begin  later  and  later  as  one 
ascends  the  coast,  lasting  from  May  to  September 
on  the  Gold  Coast,  from  June  to  October  at  Sierra 
Leone,  from  July  to  October  at  Bathurst,  and  so  on. 

On  the  morning  of  the  26th  of  March  we  got  into 
the  long  swell  which  marks  proximity  to  the  coast-line 
in  the  Bight  of  Benin,  and  at  about  noon  sighted 
a  spire,  wdiich  we  were  told  was  part  of  Bonny 


BONNY  RIVER,. 


299 


Cathedral.  Shortly  afterwards  some  corrugated  iron 
roofs  became  visible ;  and  as  we  continued  our 
course,  a  straight  dark  line  just  showed  itself  above 
the  waters,  and  gave  us  our  first  view  of  the  land 
portion  of  the  Niger  delta.  As  I  glanced  at  the 
Captain’s  chart  I  wondered  how  we  should  ever  find 
our  way  through  the  labyrinth  of  channels  into 
which  we  were  entering  — a  doubt  by  no  means 
lessened  by  a  view  of  the  apparently  unbroken  lines 
of  surf  and  expanses  of  mud-coloured  shallow  water 
which  lay  between  us  and  the  shore.  However, 
after  many  twistings  and  turnings,  and  the  guidance 
of  the  solitary  buoy  by  which  this  channel  is  marked, 
we  finally  glided  into  smooth  water,  and  cast  anchor 
in  the  Bonny  river — a  broad  estuary,  bounded  by 
banks  of  mud,  almost  awash  at  high  tide,  and  far 
below  the  level  of  our  eyes  as  we  paced  the  deck  of 
the  £C  Bencmela.”  On  the  left  bank  were  some  half- 

O 

dozen  two-storeyed  European  buildings,  with  corru¬ 
gated  iron  roofs,  behind  them  a  broad  expanse  of 
bush,  of  which  the  straight  outline  was  here  and 
there  broken  by  a  gigantic  cotton-tree.  As  it  neared 
the  river’s  mouth,  the  bank’s  few  feet  of  elevation 
gradually  dwindled  to  nothing,  until  it  merged  into 
the  broad,  wet,  sandy  foreshore,  which  in  its  turn 
melted  into  the  sea-horizon.  There  was  no  sign  of 
native  habitations,  the  town,  or  rather  towns,  of 
Bonny  being,  as  we  afterwards  learnt,  situated  on 
creeks  a  little  farther  up  and  down  the  river.  Some 


300 


THE  LAND  OF  DEATH. 


fifty  yards  from  the  shore  was  moored  an  old  hulk, 
connected  with  the  land  by  a  wooden  pier. 

The  right  bank  of  the  river,  about  a  mile  and  a 
half  distant,  presented  an  absolutely  flat  and  un¬ 
broken  horizon,  and,  when  shortly  afterwards  we 
entered  the  ship’s  boat  to  row  ashore,  disappeared 
altogether  beneath  the  sky-line.  Up-stream  the 
view,  equally  flat  and  unbroken,  afforded  rather 
more  variety  of  colour.  The  broad  stream  stretched 
away — an  unruffled  streak  of  light — till  it  melted 
into  the  haze  of  the  northern  horizon ;  the  green 
foliage  and  brown  gnarled  stems  and  roots  of  the 
unending  mangroves  stood  out  sharply  on  an  island 
in  midstream  a  few  hundred  yards  above  us ;  whilst 
on  the  left  bank,  above  the  factories,  mangroves 
again  showed  a  sheet  of  less  brilliant  green, 
gradually  fading  in  the  far  distance  into  the  grey 
of  sky  and  river. 

The  hulk  just  mentioned  was  a  remnant  of  the 
older  style  of  trading,  when  merchants  sent  their 
own  vessels,  which,  casting  anchor  in  the  rivers, 
were  covered  with  mat  awnings  and  generally  made 
comfortable, — remaining  for  weeks  or  months  until 
their  original  cargo  was  exhausted  and  replaced  by 
barrels  of  palm-oil.  Later  on  they  took  to  leaving 
one  ship  permanently  on  the  coast,  moored  to  the 
shore,  dismantled,  and  turned  into  a  floating  house 
and  fortress  ;  for  in  the  good  old  days  of  the  “  Palm- 
oil  Ruffian,”  the  vocation  of  merchants  on  this  coast 


FACTORY,  BONNY. 


CAPTAIN  BOLER. 


301 


was  anything  but  a  peaceful  one.  Now  goods  are 
all  sent  out  by  the  regular  lines  of  steamers,  and  the 
merchants’  representatives  live  in  comfortable  houses 
on  the  dry  land. 

Soon  a  smart  gig  put  out  from  the  shore,  and 
brought  on  board  Captain  Boler,  one  of  the  oldest 
English  residents  on  the  coast,  and  Major — now  Sir 
Claude — Macdonald,  the  British  High  Commissioner 
for  the  Oil-rivers,  who  had  just  arrived  from  Eng¬ 
land  on  a  special  mission.  The  former  kindly 
invited  us  to  stay  with  him  while  we  remained  at 
Bonny ;  and  finding  that  we  were  likely  to  have  to 
wait  some  days  before  the  arrival  of  the  “  Nubia,” 
which  was  to  take  us  to  England,  we  gladly  accepted 
his  offer.  So,  packing  up  our  traps,  we  reluctantly 
bade  farewell  to  the  “  Benguela,”  her  captain  and 
officers,  and  accompanied  Captain  Boler  ashore. 

His  residence  was  a  substantial  two  -  storeyed 
building,  of  which  the  ground-floor  was  entirely 
devoted  to  merchandise  and  coopers’  workshops,  for 
the  repair  and  manufacture  of  the  casks  in  which 
the  palm-oil  is  sent  to  England.  The  first  and 
residential  floor  was  reached  by  a  broad  wooden 
staircase  outside  the  house,  but  under  cover  of  the 
wflde  verandah  which  encircled  the  whole  building. 
On  to  this  verandah  all  the  rooms  gave.  At  the 
top  of  the  staircase  and  facing  the  river  was  the 
dining-room,  occupying  nearly  all  the  centre  of  the 
house ;  to  the  right  and  left  of  it  large  airy  bed- 


302 


THE  LAND  OF  DEATH. 


rooms  opened,  giving  respectively  as  well  on  to  the 
northern  and  southern  verandahs ;  while  on  the 
other  side  were  the  offices,  Captain  Boler’s  own 
rooms,  and  those  of  his  clerks. 

ii. 

In  the  afternoon  Major  Macdonald  took  us  to  see 
the  cathedral.  Soon  after  starting  we  came  to  a 
narrow  tidal  channel,  and  were  anxiously  debating 
as  to  the  best  means  of  passing  it,  when  three  naked 
little  blackamoors  appeared,  one  of  whom,  pointing 
at  me,  said,  “  Me  carry  them  man  ;  ”  and  as  good  as 
his  word,  he  lifted  me  on  his  shoulders  and  carried 
me  across.  Our  way  to  the  cathedral  lay  through 
Bonny  Town,  a  dirty  and  intricate  collection  of 
huts :  some  with  wattle- and-claub  walls  and  palm- 
leaf  thatched  roofs  ;  others  of  mud-brick  and  corru¬ 
gated  iron  roofs ;  and  some  again  a  mixture  of  the 
two  styles  of  architecture,  but  all  out  of  repair,  and, 
as  far  as  I  could  see,  filthily  dirty.  The  chief 
feature  of  the  place  appeared  to  be  the  extraordi¬ 
nary  number  of  broken  square-face  “  Holland’s  ”  gin 
bottles  which  were  strewn  about  its  streets,  and 
which  afforded  ample  evidence  of  the  thirsty  tem¬ 
perament  of  its  inhabitants.  Gin  is  one  of  the  most 
important  exports  from  England  to  our  new  Protec¬ 
torate,  and  so  highly  appreciated  by  the  natives 
that  they  even  have  a  few  bottles  buried  with  them 


IN  BONNY  TOWN. 


303 


when  they  clie  ;  and  as  I  learnt  from  a  wooden 
image  of  a  god  which  was  given  to  me,  they  have 
promoted  it  to  the  dignity  of  the  ancient  nectar 
— the  deity  in  question  being  represented  with  a 
“  square-face  ”  bottle  in  each  hand. 

Two  minutes’  walk,  however,  sufficed  for  the 
passage  of  King  Ja-ja’s  capital,  and  brought  us  to 
the  margin  of  a  deep  pool  surrounded  by  gigantic 
cotton  -  trees,  whose  heavy  shade  and  buttressed 
roots  would  almost  have  made  one  imagine  one’s 
self  in  some  early  English  cloister,  but  for  its 
human  occupants,  whose  behaviour  and  appearance 
were  as  far  as  possible  opposed  to  all  ideas  of  peace 
and  dignity.  Here  King  Ja-ja’s  female  subjects 
come  to  draw  water  for  their  households  :  fat  elderly 
negresses,  swathed  in  two  or  three  particoloured 
square  dusters ;  slim  agile  young  matrons,  looking 
anything  but  matronly  in  half  a  yard  of  the  same 
material ;  girls  of  all  ages,  from  six  to  sixteen,  with 
no  fraction  of  a  duster,  but  adorned  with  a  single 
string  of  cowries  pendant  from  their  hips  :  all  carry¬ 
ing-  huge  water-jars  on  their  shoulders — in  the  case 
of  the  children,  almost  as  large  as  themselves — and 
all  laughing  and  talking  and  splashing  to  the  utmost 
of  their  powers.  Accompanying  them  were  the 
unemployed  youths  of  Bonny — apparently  a  large 
proportion  of  the  population — helping  the  women, 
as  idle  young  men  do  all  the  world  over,  by  causing 
endless  giggles,  and  rendering  the  proper  business 


304 


THE  LAND  OF  DEATH. 


on  hand  perfectly  impossible.  I  was  too  far  off  to 
hear  what  was  said,  and  even  had  I  been  nearer, 
was  unacquainted  with  the  Yoruba  dialect  spoken 
at  Bonny ;  yet  I  understood  every  word  that  was 
uttered  as  well  as  if  I  had  been  watching  a  similar 
scene  being  enacted  in  an  English  ball-room,  or  on 
the  area-steps  of  a  London  house.  The  consequences 
of  the  Tower  of  Babel  have  no  doubt  been  most 
annoying  to  serious  -  minded  persons  in  search  of 
information ;  but  to  the  truly  frivolous  they  have 
caused  but  little  practical  inconvenience,  nor  will, 
until  a  second  and  worse  Babel  inflicts  on  mankind 
a  confusion  of  giggles. 

Our  road  lay  through  thick  bush,  in  which  a  broad 
“  ride  ”  had  been  cut,  marked  by  narrow  interlacing 
tracks  which  the  bare  feet  of  its  users  had  worn. 
Half  an  hour’s  walk  brought  us  to  Archdeacon 
Crowther’s  house,  a  pleasant  dwelling  in  a  well-kept 
garden  facing  the  river.  We  were  most  amiably 
received  by  the  Archdeacon  and  Mrs  Crowther,  who 
showed  us  over  their  beautiful  church  and  well-built 
schools,  the  former  capable  of  seating  a  thousand 
persons,  —  a  number  which,  I  am  told,  the  Arch¬ 
deacon  often  draws  within  its  walls.  The  mission- 
buildings  are  all  situated  in  a  clearing  in  a  part  of 
the  bush  which  was  formerly  sacred  to  the  local 
god,  and  from  which  his  votaries,  ever  anxious  to 
secure  a  human  sacrifice,  were  in  the  habit  of 
pouncing  out  on  unsuspecting  wayfarers. 


COTTON-TREE,  BONNY. 


THE  FUTUEE  OF  THE  WEST  AEEICAN. 


305 


Although  it  is  an  open  question  whether  the  West 
African  negro  has  yet  arrived  at  a  stage  which  fits 
him  for  the  reception  of  our  religion  and  civilisation, 
with  their  attendant  liber¬ 
ties  in  the  matter  of  gin, 
gunpowder,  and  forms  of 
worship,  and  restrictions 
as  to  sexual  relationship, 
there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  world  at  large 
can  no  longer  tolerate  the 
cruelties  and  abominations 
attendant  on  ancestral  and 
devil  worship,  nor  live 
cheek-by-jowl — as  it  must 
nowadays  with  all  sea¬ 
board  populations  —  with 
a  people  which  practises 
them.  Whatever  may  be 
thought  of  the  advantages 
of  missionary  work  among 
members  of  more  advanced 
religions,  the  thanks  of  the 
civilised  world  are  certain- 

Ju-ju  Pnest. 

ly  due  to  the  missionaries, 

who  have  at  all  events  stamped  out  the  outward 
and  more  objectionable  forms  of  West  African 
superstition.  Among  these  Archdeacon  Crowtlier, 
and,  as  I  heard  on  all  sides,  his  father,  the  Bishop 


306 


THE  LAND  OF  DEATH. 


of  the  Niger,  belong  to  the  very  highest  class ;  and 
being  themselves  natives,  have  an  amount  of  in¬ 
fluence  which  no  white  man  could  hope  to  attain. 
Like  their  American  brothers,  some  of  the  black 
parsons  are  decidedly  quaint  in  their  methods  of 
teaching-.  One  who  acted  as  locum  tenens  for  the 
Archdeacon  some  time  ago,  attracted  great  crowds 
every  Sunday  by  his  violent  anti-white  sermons.  In 
one  of  them  he  was  telling  his  congregation  of  God 
calling  the  lambs  into  His  fold.  “Which  did  you 
think  God  called  ?  ”  he  asked  ;  “  the  white  lambs,  or 
the  black  ?  Nay,  my  brethren,  not  the  white,  but 
the  black.  And  why  ?  ” — here  a  solemn  pause — 
“  Because  he  grows  wool  ”  ! 

Many  were  the  stories  told  us  of  cannibalism  and 
human  sacrifice — the  former,  I  fancy,  mostly  exag¬ 
gerated  ;  for,  as  far  as  I  know,  cannibalism  has  never 
been  practised  in  this  region  except  as  part  of  a 
religious  ceremony ;  but  the  latter  is  still  so  openly 
practised  in  the  districts  out  of  immediate  European 
control,  only  a  few  miles  from  Bonny,  that  it  is 
certain  to  have  flourished  there  equally  until  it  was 
suppressed  by  force.  Only  a  few  weeks  before  our 
arrival,  for  instance,  thirty  slaves  were  killed  at  a 
place  not  fifty  miles  from  Bonny,  in  order  that  their 
late  master  might  not  be  unattended  in  the  land  of 
spirits  ;  while  the  relations  of  another  deceased  chief, 
also  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood,  had  lately 
buried  alive  two  of  his  slaves  in  his  grave,  and  had 


THE  SHARK-GOD’S  VIRGIN. 


307 


hung  up  two  more,  head  downwards,  by  hooks 
passed  through  the  sinews  of  their  heels ;  in  which 
position  they  remained  until  the  flesh  rotted  away, 
and  the  poor  wretches,  still  alive,  fell  into  a  pit  full 
of  spikes,  on  which  they  were  impaled. 

Among  the  rites  formerly  practised  at  Bonny,  the 
most  horrible,  I  think,  was  the  monthly  sacrifice  of 
a  virgin  to  the  shark-gocl.  At  the  first  low  wTater 
of  every  spring-tide  a  victim  was  led  out  to  the 
water’s  edge,  there  bound  to  a  stake,  and  left  until 
her  agony  was  ended  by  the  slowly  rising  tide,  or 
the  sharper  but  more  quickly  striking  fangs  of  the 
hungry  sharks. 

Horrible  as  this  religion  is,  it  has  the  advantage 
of  putting  enormous  powTer  into  the  hands  of  the 
rulers,  and  thus  enabling  them  to  maintain  a  degree 
of  order  which  our  milder  methods  fail  to  effect. 
Men  wdio  had  travelled  in  the  interior  told  me 
that,  in  point  of  honesty,  the  civilised  compared 
most  unfavourably  with  the  uncivilised  parts.  One 
traveller  in  a  hitherto  unvisitecl  region  having  lost 
his  gold  watch  and  chain,  wished  to  offer  £30  reward 
for  its  recovery ;  but  the  chief  of  the  village  wrould 
not  hear  of  such  a  proceeding,  saying  that  it  would 
disgrace  him  for  ever  were  it  known  that  a  stranger 
had  been  obliged  to  buy  back  his  own  property  in 
his  territory ;  and  issuing  a  proclamation,  the  watch 
was  soon  found  and  returned  to  its  owner. 

Judging  from  the  experiences  of  Archdeacon  and 


308 


THE  LAND  OF  DEATH. 


Mrs  Crowther,  the  inhabitants  of  the  Kru  coast, 
who,  from  their  frequent  employment  on  board 
European  ships,  have  become  fairly  civilised,  do 
not  share  these  fine  scruples.  While  they  were 
returning  from  a  trip  to  Sierra  Leone  they  were 
shipwrecked  off  Cape  Palmas ;  and  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  they  were  personally  well  known  to  many 
of  the  natives,  the  latter  had  no  compunction  in 
robbing  them  of  everything  they  possessed.  Mrs 
Crowther,  being  a  very  plucky  woman,  felt  so  indig¬ 
nant  that  she  took  off  her  wedding-ring  and  threw  it 
into  the  sea  rather  than  let  the  natives  have  it. 

In  justice  to  the  Kru  boys,  however,  I  must  say 
that  they  treat  the  stranger  no  worse  than  their  own 
friends  and  relations.  After  one  of  them  has  been 
working  up  and  down  the  coast  for  months  or  years, 
and  has  collected  a  nice  little  “pile,”  and  a  fashion¬ 
able  outfit,  consisting  of  a  tall  hat,  a  red  cotton 
umbrella,  and  the  tunic  of  a  Guards  drummer-boy, 
he  begins  to  yearn  for  his  native  village ;  so  balanc¬ 
ing  himself — or  otherwise — in  a  keel-less  dug-out  of 
fifteen  inches  beam,  he  bids  farewell  to  civilisation, 
and  charging  the  surf,  lands  with  a  bump  on  his 
native  shore.  Immediately  following  him  is  a 
gigantic  roller,  and  in  the  excitement  of  the  moment 
it  is  many  chances  to  one  that  the  welcoming  crowd 
forget  to  drag  the  canoe  out  of  the  way  with  suffi¬ 
cient  rapidity,  and  that  she — bottom  uppermost, — 
the  tall  hat,  the  umbrella,  and  the  tunic,  are  all 


BISHOP  AND  ARCHDEACON  CROWTHER  AND  CLERGY. 


THE  KRU  BOYS  RETURN  HOME. 


309 


gaily  dancing  in  the  surf.  A  score  of  strong  arms 
are  soon  beating  the  water  to  their  rescue,  which  is 
speedily  effected,  without  much  advantage  to  the 
rightful  owner,  but  to  the  great  joy  of  the  lucky 
swimmers  wdio  secure  the  prizes.  Then  after  toiling 
all  these  months  away  from  home,  the  welcome 
wanderer  cannot  be  allowed  to  burden  himself  with 
all  those  heavy  bags  that  hang  from  his  waist,  and 
many  willing  hands  are  stretched  out  to  relieve  him 
of  his  load,  with  the  result  that  he  re-enters  his 
home  much  in  the  condition  in  which  Job  entered 
and  expected  to  leave  this  world ;  nor  does  he  again 
have  the  pleasure  of  handling  an  umbrella  or  a  gin- 
bottle  until  a  fresh  arrival  from  the  ships  of  Christ¬ 
endom  affords  him  also  the  opportunity  of  assisting 
at  the  home-comino’  of  some  one  else. 

o 

On  our  return  home  Major  Macdonald  had  at  once 
to  start  for  Opobo,  where  he  was  due  to  attend 
a  “palaver”  on  the  following  morning.  As  no 
steam-launch  was  at  hand,  he  had  to  travel  in  a 
native  canoe,  winding  his  way  through  the  intricate 
network  of  channels  which  intersect  the  Niger  delta 
in  every  direction,  most  of  them  wholly  unexplored, 
and  many  even  utterly  unknown.  It  is  strange  to 
think  that  within  a  short  distance  of  Bonny,  con¬ 
stantly  frequented  as  it  is  by  English  men-of-war, 
there  should  be  miles  of  water-way  less  known  and 
more  un-mapped  than  the  distant  upper  reaches  of 
the  Niger  or  the  Zambesi. 


310 


THE  LAND  OF  DEATH. 


Next  morning  I  was  awakened  early  by  the  loud 
beating  of  tom-toms,  so  lifting  up  my  mosquito- 
curtain  and  peeping  through  the  blinds,  I  spied 
a  procession  of  long  war-canoes  advancing  down  the 
river  laden  with  barrels  of  palm-oil,  and  each  con¬ 
taining  a  king  and  some  fifty  of  his  subjects,  who, 
by  the  peculiar  manner  in  which  they  handled  their 
long-pointed  paddles,  showed  to  the  initiated  to 
which  particular  monarch  they  had  the  honour  of 
owing  allegiance.  These  paddle-strokes  are  some 
of  them  curiously  fantastic  and  intricate,  and  must 
add  enormously  to  the  labour  of  propulsion,  and, 
I  should  imagine,  are  only  reserved  for  state  occa¬ 
sions.  They  are,  however,  as  distinctive  as  the  tartan 
of  a  Highland  clan,  the  camel-marks  of  the  Sudanese, 
or  the  tattooing  of  a  South  Sea  Islander. 

This,  it  appeared,  was  the  day  of  the  week  on 
which  the  neighbouring  kings  —  who  have  taken 
upon  themselves  the  lucrative  post  of  middle-men — 
come  down  to  exchange  the  palm-oil  collected  from 
up-river  markets  for  European  goods.  Later  in  the 
day  I  had  the  honour  of  being  presented  to  all  their 
sable  majesties,  some  of  whom  rejoiced  in  such 
un-royal  and  un- African  names  as  “  Black  Face,” 
“  Green  Head,”  “  Dublin  Green,”  “  Charles  Holli¬ 
day,”  and  “John  Brown”;  the  only  exceptions  to 
this  rule  being  “  Oritchie  ”  and  “Oko  Jumbo.”  They 
were  mostly  pleasant,  fairly  intelligent-looking  men, 
with  good  white  teeth,  which  they  continually 


A  GATHERING  OF  KINGS. 


311 


showed,  and  the  regular  Christy  Minstrel  laugh. 
One  or  two  of  them  had  been  to  England,  and  wore 
European  clothes.  These  seemed  there  to  have  lost 
a  good  deal  of  the  simplicity  which  lends  a  charm 
to  the  untravelled  and  uneducated  West  African, 
without  having  gained  very  much  instead.  One  of 
the  kings  quite  won  my  heart  by  a  little  bit  of 
flattery  on  my  artistic  powers,  about  which  I  my¬ 
self  was  not  particularly  confident.  Looking  over 
my  shoulder  as  I  was  sketching  a  lovely  palm-tree, 
the  resting-place  of  a  troop  of  white  doves,  which 
stood  just  under  the  verandah,  he  remarked,  point¬ 
ing  at  the  sketch,  “  Them  all  same  like  tree.” 

On  my  asking  Captain  Boler  for  information  as  to 
the  class  of  goods  for  which  the  palm-oil  was  ex¬ 
changed,  he  suggested  I  should  come  and  inspect 
them  myself.  We  accordingly  descended  to  the 
store.  Such  a  curious  collection  !  Knives,  hatchets, 
bales  of  cloth,  looking-glasses,  straw-hats,  blue-and- 
white-striped  jerseys,  beads  and  knick-knacks  of  all 
kinds ;  among  which  were  some  very  fine  pieces  of 
coral,  much  used  by  the  wealthier  natives  as  an 
ornament.  Captain  Boler  showed  me  one  piece, 
about  an  inch  square,  which  he  said  was  worth  £70. 
Some  time  ago  the  experiment  was  tried  of  sending 
out  some  imitation  coral,  which,  however,  had  no 
success.  The  first  chief  to  wdiom  it  was  offered, 
after  looking  at  one  of  the  strings  of  beads,  put  it 
to  his  lips,  and  uttering  a  contemptuous  “  Tcha !  ” 


312 


THE  LAND  OF  DEATH. 


— Pooh  ! — handed  it  back  and  went  off,  accompanied 
by  all  the  others.  They  are  also  most  particular 
about  the  composition  of  some  coins  known  as 
manillas — in  shape  like  a  thick  plain  bangle  with 
thickened  turned-up  ends,  which  gives  them  the 
appearance  of  a  capital  C.  To  please  them,  these 
coins  must,  when  hit,  give  out  a  certain  ring  which 
they  alone  can  accurately  recognise.  The  choice  of 
cotton  prints  for  this  market  is  also  a  matter  that 
requires  great  care  on  the  part  of  the  exporter. 
Often  whole  cargoes  of  stuffs  are  found  to  be  almost 
unsaleable,  and  have  to  be  got  rid  of  for  what  they 
will  fetch.  In  many  parts  cotton  -  stuffs  are  not 
accepted  unless  they  are  printed  on  both  sides ;  the 
ordinary  prints,  plain  on  one  side,  or,  as  the  natives 
express  it,  “  Them  no  have  two  face,”  being  looked 
down  upon  as  worthless. 

In  the  midst  of  Captain  Boler’s  motley  collection 
I  noticed  some  rolls  of  fine  red  damask,  and  on  in¬ 
quiring  by  whom  that  was  purchased,  I  was  told 
there  was  a  great  demand  for  it  among  the  kings, 
who  used  it  for  the  purpose  of  winding-sheets.  The 
same  ideas  as  to  a  future  state  which  cause  slaves 
to  be  sacrificed  at  their  master’s  death,  lead  to  the 
interment  with  the  corpse  of  all  such  necessaries  and 
luxuries  as  would  ensure  his  comfort  and  dignity  in 
the  land  of  spirits.  As  it  is  the  custom  to  bury  a 
man  beneath  the  floor  of  his  own  house — which,  in 
the  case  of  the  head  of  the  family,  is  then  abandoned 


313 


KING  “  BLACK  FACE.” 

— it  is  probable  that  the  tumble-down  and  unprom¬ 
ising-looking  old  shanties  of  Bonny  Town  will  yield 
some  rich  treasures,  should  its  inhabitants  ever 
become  sufficiently  advanced  to  feel  the  need  of 
drains. 

In  the  afternoon  Captain  Boler  took  us  to  Ju-ju 
Town  to  pay  “  Black  Face  ”  a  visit.  It  was  a  three- 


Ju-ju  Town. 


mile  row,  mostly  through  narrow  channels  between 
islands  densely  covered  with  mangroves,  whose  dark- 
green  foliage,  perched  on  the  top  of  a  framework  of 
earthless  roots,  presents  a  strange  and  unnatural 
appearance  even  by  day ;  and  in  the  twilight,  mag¬ 
nified  and  rendered  indistinct  by  the  rising  mist, 
these  tangled  roots  look  like  bunches  of  some  writli- 


314 


THE  LAND  OF  DEATH. 


ing  reptiles  pendent  from  the  dark  walls  that  hem 
in  the  narrow  stream  on  either  side. 

A  wonderful  stillness  pervades  these  West  African 
creeks.  Except  for  the  gentle  ripple  of  the  water 
among  the  mangroves,  hardly  a  sound  was  to  be 
heard ;  and  the  only  sign  of  life  was  afforded  by  an 
occasional  crane,  which,  startled  by  the  sound  of 
our  oars,  reluctantly  abandoned  his  fishing  and  flew 
heavily  away  ;  and  by  the  families  of  little  red  crabs 
collected  on  the  snaky-looking  roots,  that  edged  into 
the  water  as  a  splash  from  the  oars  warned  them  of 
our  proximity. 

Turning  a  sharp  corner,  and  passing  under  an 
archway  of  overhanging  branches,  so  low  that  we 
had  to  duck  our  heads,  we  found  ourselves  in  a 
small  shady  creek,  bright  with  the  reflection  of  the 
glorious  vegetation  that  lined  its  banks.  Just  in 
front  of  us  was  a  high  palisade  of  stout  poles,  above 
which  peeped  the  palm-thatched  roofs  of  the  village. 
Stopping  at  an  opening,  we  were  received  by  “  Black 
Face,”  “  John  Brown,”  and  “  Green  Head,”  who 
helped  us  out  of  our  boat,  and  led  us  into  the  hut 
of  the  first-named  king.  It  was  a  curiously  civilised 
abode  to  find  in  such  a  place  and  among  such  savage 
surroundings, — glazed  windows,  well-painted  walls 
adorned  with  some  fair  prints,  and  mahogany  chairs, 
sideboard,  and  clining-table,  the  latter  covered  with 
siphons,  with  of  course  a  due  proportion  of  the  in¬ 
evitable  “  square-face.”  Having  partaken  of  a  mix- 


JU-JU  PRIEST. 


WAR  CANOES. 


315 


ture  of  these,  and  uttered  the  mystic  word  “  Boo,” 
which  is  de  rigueur  on  such  occasions,  our  hosts 
offered  to  show  us  their  war-canoes  ;  so  skirting  the 
town,  we  followed  a  narrow  path  and  dived  into  the 
hush,  a  tangled  mass  of  lovely  flowering  creepers 
and  gigantic  ferns,  over  which  towered  some  of  the 
largest  cocoa-palms  I  had  ever  seen.  A  short  walk 
brought  us  to  the  shed  in  which  the  war-canoes 
were  kept — huge  unwieldy-looking  things  dug  out 
of  the  trunk  of  a  single  tree,  about  three  feet  broad 
and  fifty  or  sixty  in  length.  They  present,  however, 
an  imposing  appearance  fully  manned,  with  the  fifty 
paddles  simultaneously  flashing  in  the  sunlight. 
Close  by  was  the  old  barracoon  in  which  the  Por¬ 
tuguese  used  to  store  the  slaves  prior  to  embarkation, 
— a  long,  low,  one-storeyed  stone  building  without 
windows,  a  very  dismal  dungeon  in  which  to  spend 
the  last  hours  on  one’s  native  land. 

On  the  margin  of  the  creek  close  by,  half  buried 
in  the  mud,  I  saw  an  odd-shaped  earthenware  bowl, 
curiously  ornamented  with  bosses.  Being  always 
on  the  look-out  for  curios,  I  at  once  asked  if  it  had 
been  thrown  away,  and  finding  that  it  had,  I 
whispered  to  Captain  Boler  to  try  and  secure  it 
for  me,  which  he  kindly  did ;  and  I  triumphantly 
carried  off  my  trophy,  which,  it  turned  out,  had 
belonged  to  a  neighbouring  and  now  disused  Ju-ju 
altar,  and  was  one  of  the  vessels  in  which  the  blood 
of  the  human  sacrifices  had  been  carried  —  with 


316 


THE  LAND  OF  DEATH. 


songs  and  dances — through  the  town,  to  be  tasted 
in  turn  by  the  inhabitants.  In  the  town  itself  we 
found  another  altar  still  standing,  and  adorned  with 
a  collection  of  curiously  carved  images,  bowls,  bits 
of  pottery,  and  brass  rods.  These  were  by  way  of 


Idol  and  other  Articles  from  Bonny. 

2.  Grass  cap.  5.  Grass  plate.  8.  Grass-woven  basket. 

3.  Accra  stools.  6.  God  from  Bonny.  9.  Sacrificial  jars,  Bonny. 

4.  Carved  pumpkin.  7.  Paddles. 

having  been  discarded  and  thrown  away  by  the 
present  chiefs,  wdio  are  Christians ;  but  from  the 
fact  of  the  altar  and  all  its  appurtenances  having 
been  left  intact,  I  suspect  that,  at  the  best,  they 


MUSIC  AND  DANCING. 


317 


have  but  added  our  religion  to  their  own.  Near 
this  altar  was  a  group  of  women  squatting  on  the 
ground,  who  were  singing  the  wildest  of  tunes  to 
the  accompaniment  of  tom-toms  made  of  square 
pieces  of  wood  hollowed  out  from  beneath,  and  of 
an  even  simpler  instrument — an  ordinary  narrow¬ 
necked  earthenware  jar,  from  which  they  produced 
various  deep  notes  by  beating  on  the  mouth  with 
the  palms  of  their  hands.  These  jars  varied  in 
height  from  about  three  feet  down  to  a  few  inches, 
according  to  the  depth  of  note  they  were  intended 
to  produce.  While  the  women  were  singing  and 
playing,  the  men  and  boys  danced — not  the  war- 
dance,  which  is  nearly  always  performed  by  the 
males  of  savage  tribes,  but  rather  the  class  of  that 
of  the  “  Gawazi  ”  women  on  the  Nile,  or,  I  should 
imagine,  the  Nautch  girls  of  India. 

On  the  following  afternoon  H.M.S.  “  Pheasant,’ 
with  Major  Macdonald  on  board,  arrived  from  Opobo, 
which  she  had  been  blockading  for  some  weeks  in 
consequence  of  the  behaviour  of  the  local  kings, 
who,  acting  as  they  do  as  middle-men,  were  anxious 
to  prevent  all  direct  communication  between  the 
buyer  and  the  producer.  With  this  end  in  view 
they  had  placed  booms  across  the  river,  and  other¬ 
wise  made  themselves  thoroughly  obstructive ;  the 
result  being  that  the  crews  of  two  of  her  Majesty’s 
ships  had  been  obliged  to  spend  most  of  their  nights 
for  some  time  past  in  patrolling  fever-stricken  creeks, 


318 


THE  LAND  OF  DEATH. 


with  hardly  any  greater  opportunity  of  excitement 
than  that  afforded  by  the  occasional  capture  of  a 
dug-out  and  her  crew  of  two  small  boys,  and  cargo 
of  half-a-dozen  long-legged  chickens. 

We  dined  on  board  that  night,  and  heard  a  great 
deal  about  the  miseries  attending  the  blockade  of 
West  African  rivers,  and  how  the  damp  nights  in 
the  swamps  and  the  monotony  of  the  work  had 
played  sad  havoc  with  the  crew,  a  very  large  per¬ 
centage  of  whom,  and  several  of  the  officers,  were 
down  with  fever.  The  Captain  had  wished  to  show 
us  the  war-dance  of  his  “  Kru  boys”;  but  just  as 
they  were  about  to  begin,  the  doctor  asked  him  to 
postpone  it,  as  the  Chief  Engineer,  who  among 
others  was  seriously  ill  with  fever,  had  suddenly 
taken  a  turn  for  the  worse,  and  was  in  a  very 
critical  condition. 

Soon  after  our  return  to  England  we  were  grieved 
to  hear  that  Captain  Johnson  himself  had  succumbed 
to  the  effects  of  this  deadly  coast. 

We  had  a  very  pleasant  dinner,  at  the  conclusion 
of  which  Captain  Johnson  had  again  to  get  under 
way  to  proceed  to  New  Calabar,  where  Major  Mac¬ 
donald  was  due  for  another  “palaver.”  We  were 
invited  to  accompany  them,  and  offered  a  cabin  on 
board  ;  but  the  “  Nubia,”  which  wTas  to  take  us  home, 
was  due  the  next  day,  and  being  afraid  of  crossing 
her  en  route,  we  had  reluctantly  to  decline.  As  it 
turned  out,  the  “  Pheasant  ”  returned  from  her  trip 


KING  “  CHAKLES  HOLLIDAY.”  319 

before  the  arrival  of  the  “  Nubia  ” ;  so  that  we  should, 
after  all,  have  had  plenty  of  time  to  see  this,  to  us, 
new  bit  of  country. 

Before  leaving,  the  Captain  gave  me  the  following 
letter,  which  he  had  received  the  day  before  from 
an  Opobo  chief,  and  which  I  reproduce  as  a  good 
example  of  “  English  as  she  is  ”  writ  in  the  Niger 
delta : — 

“  Sylvania  Villa, 

Opobo  Farm,  March  26,  1889. 

“Captain  Johnson,  H.M.S.  1  Pheasant.’ 

“  Sir, — I  herewith  much  pleasure  to  send  you  one  young 
Parrot  by  my  boys. 

“  I  have  tried  all  my  best  to  send  you  and  old  Parrot, 
but  sorry  that  I  cannot  succeed.  I  therefore  beg  you  to 
receive  this  young  one,  and  I  think  please  God  he  will  in 
future  become  a  good  bird  to  play  with.  I  am  very  sorry 
indeed  of  not  getting  you  old  bird,  who  is  already  speak 
well.  However,  if  you  teach  this  young  one  he  will  surely 
be  a  good  Bird. — I  remain,  sir,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

“  Appiafi.” 

At  about  noon  on  the  following  day  we  rowed  off 
to  see  King  “  Charles  Holliday,”  whose  plantation 
lies  on  a  small  creek  about  two  hours  up  the  river. 
Our  route  lay  through  the  same  sort  of  scenery  as 
we  had  passed  going  to  Ju-ju  Town,  but  the  creeks 
were  narrower,  and  much  more  intricate  ;  and  in  the 
utter  absence  of  landmarks,  one  wondered  how  any 
one  could  find  his  way  about  this  watery  labyrinth. 

On  arriving  at  “  Holliday’s  ”  landing,  we  found 
him  awaiting  us  with  a  few  of  his  men,  and  were 


320 


THE  LAND  OF  DEATH. 


escorted  by  him  through  the  village  to  his  com¬ 
pound.  Passing  through  a  broad  arched  gateway, 
we  entered  a  high-wallecl  enclosure  some  two  hun- 
dred  yards  square,  in  one  corner  of  which  stood  a 
well-built  European -looking  house  giving  on  to  a 
covered  courtyard.  Going  up  a  broad  flight  of 
wooden  steps,  we  were  ushered  into  the  dining¬ 
room,  a  nicely  decorated  apartment,  whose  most 
prominent  feature  was  a  large  coloured  photograph 
of  our  host,  which  had  been  enlarged  from  an 
amateur’s  negative  sent  to  England  for  the  purpose, 
in  which  the  large  coral  bead  that  he  always  wore 
was  done  full  justice  to. 

After  a  short  time  a  little  slave  came  in  with  two 
dishes— on  one  a  substantial  piece  of  roast-meat,  on 
the  other  palm-oil  “  chop  ” — quite  the  most  delicious 
mixture  that  I  had  ever  tasted  of  shrimps  stewed  in 
palm-oil,  with  just  a  pinch  of  ground  chillies.  It 
was  so  good  that  I  have  often  regretted  that  by  the 
time  palm-oil  reaches  England  it  has  lost  its  fresh¬ 
ness  ;  and  although  doubtless  excellent  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  for  which  it  is  imported — the  manufacture  of 
soap,  and  the  bright-coloured  but  rather  unsavoury¬ 
smelling  grease  which  is  applied  to  railway-carriage 
wheels — it  is  no  longer  suitable  for  culinary  purposes. 

Everything  eatable  on  this  coast  is  described  as 
“chop”;  and  judging  from  our  host’s  answers  to 
various  questions  of  mine  on  the  flora  and  fauna  of 
his  estate,  he  seemed  to  divide  nature  into  two 


king  “holliday’s”  home.  321 

great  classes.  “  Them  make  chop,”  or  “  them  no 
good  for  chop,”  was  the  only  information  I  could 
extract  from  him  on  any  subject  connected  with 
natural  history.  Being  a  practical  man,  the  “  make- 
chop  ”  class  was  greatly  in  excess  of  the  other,  as 
we  noticed  when  after  lunch  we  made  a  tour  of  his 
scrupulously  clean  village  and  well  -  kept  estate, 
which  was  chiefly  planted  with  cacao  and  coffee 
shrubs. 

I  had  been  wondering  during  our  stroll  at  the 
remarkable  absence  of  population,  and  imagined 
that  the  people  must  all  be  away  at  the  markets 
or  elsewhere,  when  the  mystery  was  solved  by  the 
appearance  round  the  corner  of  two  women  carrying 
water-jars,  clad  in  the  scantiest  of  possible  costumes, 
whom  “  Holliday  ”  imperiously  waved  away  the  mo¬ 
ment  he  caught  sight  of  them.  I  asked  why  he 
had  done  so,  and  he  explained  that  his  people  not 
being  dressed  in  a  style  to  which  I  was  accustomed, 
he  had  ordered  them  all  to  remain  in  their  huts 
during  my  visit.  As  we  were  anxious  to  secure 
some  photographs  of  native  types,  this  was  the  last 
thing  we  wanted,  and  the  king  was  accordingly  asked 
to  rescind  his  order. 

I  also  photographed  “Holliday”  with  his  six 
wives  and  their  numerous  offspring.  As  the  scene 
was  a  good  typical  example  of  a  West  African  house¬ 
hold,  I  wifi  try  to  describe  it. 

The  left  third  of  the  picture  is  occupied  by  the 


x 


THE  LAND  OF  DEATH. 


322 

wall  of  a  two-storeyed,  gabled  wooden  bouse,  built 
of  alternately  light  and  dark  painted  boards,  and 
pierced  by  casementecl  windows,  with  diamond¬ 
shaped  leaded  panes.  The  eaves,  projecting  some 
twelve  feet,  form  a  broad  verandah,  supported  by 


“  Charles  Holliday  ”  and  Family. 


tall  wooden  uprights,  the  feet  of  which  rest  on  a 
dwarf  stone  wall,  supporting  a  wooden  platform,  sur¬ 
rounded  by  a  balustrade,  and  approached  by  broad 
stone  steps.  At  right  angles  to  these  steps,  and 
running  diagonally  across  the  picture  from  the 


“HOLLIDAY”  and  his  household.  323 

entrance-door  on  the  first  floor  to  the  platform,  is 
an  open  wooden  staircase,  of  a  step-ladder  style  of 
architecture.  In  the  background  is  a  long  low  shed, 
its  walls  hidden  by  a  collection  of  palm-oil  barrels, 
and  surmounted  by  a  corrugated-iron  roof.  On  one 
of  the  lower  steps  of  the  platform  stands  “  Holliday  ” 
himself,  scratching  his  chin ;  on  his  head  is  a  Pan¬ 
ama  straw-hat,  with  the  broad  brim  turned  down. 
A  green  cord  is  fastened  round  his  neck,  threaded 
through  a  large  single  piece  of  red  coral,  which, 
hanging  in  the  centre  of  the  upper  opening  of  his 
white  linen  jacket,  takes  the  place  of  collar,  necktie, 
and  scarf-pin.  A  red-and-blue-check  duster,  wound 
round  and  round  the  waist  beneath  the  coat,  reaches 
a  little  below  the  knees,  showing  a  few  inches  of 
bare  black  leg  above  the  white  cotton  socks  and 
black  leather  laced  ankle-boots.  Leaning  over  the 
balustrade  to  his  right  are  two  of  his  wives — one 
fat  and  thirty,  the  other  equally  fat,  but  not  more 
than  twenty  years  old,  each  dressed  in  a  single  piece 
of  check  duster  material  passed  round  the  body 
under  the  arms,  rather  higher  than  a  European  low 
dress,  but  more  than  making  up  at  the  skirt  for  its 
superfluity  above.  Legs  and  feet  are  bare,  and  a 
checked  handkerchief  wound  tightly  round  the  head 
completes  their  attire.  On  “  Holliday  s  ”  right  and 
left,  sitting  on  the  stone  steps,  are  twTo  other  wives, 
dressed  like  the  first  pair ;  while  a  fifth,  swathed 
in  a  wrapper  of  broad  blue-and-red  stripes,  stands 


324 


THE  LAND  OF  DEATH. 


slightly  in  the  background.  All  have  little  black 
piccaninnies  astride  their  hips.  At  the  top  of  the 
wooden  steps,  forming  the  apex  of  the  pyramid,  is 
the  hope  of  the  family,  the  king’s  eldest  son  —  a 
cheery  boy  of  twelve,  who,  dressed  in  a  white  linen 
shirt  many  sizes  too  short  for  him,  is  preparing  to 
slide  down  the  banisters.  In  the  foreground,  seated 
on  a  stone  outside  the  platform,  the  youngest  wife, 
aged  eleven,  is  playing  with  two  little  slave-girls, 
probably  rather  her  seniors — one  dressed  like  the 
elder  women,  in  a  coloured  check  cotton  wrapper, 
the  other  in  the  costume  of  Eve  before  the  Fall. 
She,  on  the  contrary,  is  arrayed  in  the  smartest  of 
European  low-necked,  short-sleeved,  frilled  frocks, 
evidently  made  for  a  child  of  six,  beneath  which  her 
patent-leather  shod  feet  dangled  in  the  air,  appar¬ 
ently  suspended  by  half  a  yard  of  white  cotton  pan¬ 
taloon.  In  the  lower  right-hand  corner  of  the  pic¬ 
ture,  marking  the  extremity  of  the  pyramid’s  base, 
is  the  most  important  personage  of  all — a  young 
gentleman  of  about  three  summers,  who,  decked  in 
a  scarlet  cloth  shirt,  which  has  prudentty  been  con¬ 
structed  to  allow  for  the  growth  of  its  wearer,  is 
standing  in  the  place  and  position  proper  and  habit¬ 
ual  to  him — well  to  the  front,  in  an  attitude  of 
command. 

As  the  day  was  getting  on,  and  we  had  another 
visit  to  make,  we  had  to  bid  farewell  to  our  pleasant 
and  hospitable  host  far  sooner  than  I  should  have 


KING  “DUBLIN  GREEN’s”  CAPITAL. 


325 


wished.  After  winding  our  way  among  the  creeks 
for  half  an  hour,  our  boat  shot  through  the  usual 
almost  hidden  entrance  to  that  on  which  “  Dublin 
Green’s  ”  village  was  situated. 

The  scene  wais  very  different  from  that  which  pre¬ 
sented  itself  in  the  “  Holliday  ”  domain, — a  dirty, 
badly  kept  village,  looking  damp  and  gloomy  be¬ 
neath  the  shadow  of  large  overhanging  trees  ;  crowds 
of  men  and  women  with  little  clothing,  and  appar¬ 
ent^  less  to  do,  sprawling  in  groups  near  their  door¬ 
steps  ;  while  naked  children  of  various  ages  stag¬ 
gered  under  the  weight  of  enormous  water-jars,  on 
their  way  to  and  from  the  river.  The  appearance  of 
one  of  these,  I  must  own,  at  first  rather  startled  me 
— a  perfectly  white  child  of  some  ten  years  old, 
naked  as  the  day  she  was  born.  A  closer  inspection, 
however,  revealed  the  white  hair  and  pink  eyes  of  an 
albino,  and  explained  the  cause  of  her  appearance. 

Like  that  of  “  Holliday,”  the  house  of  “  Dublin 
Green  ”  was  surrounded  by  a  walled  yard,  after  pass¬ 
ing  through  wThich,  and  ascending  some  steep  steps, 
we  were  ushered  into  a  stuffy  untidily  kept  room,  in 
which  the  head  wife  was  sitting.  She  was  a  fat, 
dirty,  middle-aged  woman  with  a  loud  laugh,  and 
was  apparently  much  amused  at  our  visit.  After 
drinking  some  tea  we  took  our  departure,  and  none 
too  soon,  for  a  chilly  dampness  was  rising  from  the 
river,  and  before  we  were  clear  of  the  creeks  it  was 
pitch-dark. 


326 


THE  LAND  OF  DEATH. 


III. 

On  Wednesday,  April  the  3d,  the  “  Nubia”  steamed 
in,  and  the  following  day  saw  us  homeward  bound, 
very  sorry  not  to  be  able  to  stay  any  longer  under 
Captain  Boler’s  hospitable  roof,  from  which  he  had 
promised  us  many  interesting  expeditions.  His 
parting  words  were,  “You  must  come  back  again 
and  do  the  rivers  thoroughly  ;  ”  an  invitation  which 
we  still  hope  some  day  to  accept. 

The  next  evening  we  stopped  at  Quitta,  on  the 
Gold  Coast,  which  consists  of  a  few  factories,  a  fort 
garrisoned  by  Houssa  police  under  an  English  officer, 
and  a  native  village  in  a  palm-grove,  all  situated  on 
a  low  strip  of  land  between  the  sea  and  the  chain  of 
lagoons,  behind  which  the  country  stretched  in  an 
unbroken  line  of  mangrove-swamps  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach.  This  is  the  place  from  which  Sir  John 
Glover  started  on  his  expedition  up  the  Yolta  dur¬ 
ing  the  Ashanti  war.  It  is  now  a  great  place  for 
poultry  -  breeding,  and  the  recognised  victualling 
station  for  homeward-bound  vessels.  Soon  after 
the  gun  was  fired,  a  fleet  of  canoes  was  seen  racing 
towards  the  ship,  which  shortly  became  the  centre 
of  a  tremendous  hubbub.  The  natives  had  to  stand 
upright  in  their  small  dug-outs  to  throw  up  their 
provisions,  an  operation  that  caused  many  upsets, 
to  which,  however,  they  seemed  perfectly  indiffer- 


CAPSIZED  CANOES. 


327 


ent ;  and  soon  righting  their  canoes  again,  throwing- 
one  leg  over  them,  they  jerked  themselves  into  an 
upright  position,  and  at  once  began  to  bale  out  their 
little  crafts.  Before  many  minutes  the  sea  had 
become  covered  with  a  mass  of  bobbing  heads,  poul¬ 
try,  and  vegetables,  the  latter  in  every  variety  of 
colour.  Purple  “  alligator  ”  pears,  yellow  plantains, 
emerald-green  limes,  and  scarlet  chillies  made  a 
charming  contrast  to  the  slaty  colour  of  the  sea. 
In  the  midst  of  this  the  righted  and  the  yet  un¬ 
capsized  canoes  darted  about,  their  owners  annex¬ 
ing  all  that  came  within  their  reach  to  a  chorus 
of  invectives  from  the  submerged  proprietors. 

The  sight  was  very  curious,  and  would  have  been 
amusing  had  it  not  been  for  the  cruelty  to  the  poor 
fowls,  which  had  to  go  through  the  same  acrobatic 
performance  as  the  vegetables ;  and  being  tied  to¬ 
gether  in  bunches  of  about  eight  or  ten,  they  had 
not  a  chance  of  saving  themselves.  As  these  living- 
bunches  were  thrown  up  by  the  natives,  the  poor 
things  flew  about  in  various  directions,  and  being- 
all  fastened  to  the  same  centre,  it  needed  a  very 
cpiick  man  on  board  to  catch  them ;  and  even  when 
this  was  done,  hardly  a  bundle  arrived  without 
several  broken  legs  and  wings. 

It  was  great  fun  watching  our  “  Kru  boys  ”  offering 
the  natives  anything  they  possessed  in  exchange  for 
their  beloved  dried  fish  ;  a  bar  of  blue  soap  would 
purchase  a  dozen.  AYliile  I  was  watching  them 


328 


THE  LAND  OF  DEATH. 


bargaining,  my  attention  was  attracted  by  tlie 
sight  of  a  curious  dark  mass,  mysteriously  ad¬ 
vancing  towards  us  without  any  visible  means  of 
propulsion.  When  it  got  close  to  the  ship,  the 
middle  of  it  suddenly  disappeared,  and  on  looking 
through  my  glasses,  I  discovered  that  it  consisted 
of  a  number  of  cocoa-nuts  ingeniously  fastened  to¬ 
gether,  leaving  a  hole  in  the  centre  through  which  a 
native  had  passed  his  head,  and  quietly  swum  under 
his  load. 

Next  day  we  reached  Accra,  where  we  did  not 
land  again,  as  I  had  a  slight  attack  of  fever,  and 
there  was  a  very  heavy  surf  on  ;  so  we  amused  our¬ 
selves  watching  the  crowd  of  natives  who  came  off 
in  canoes  with  specimens  to  add  to  our  menagerie — 
which  was  already  pretty  well  stocked — monkeys  of 
many  kinds,  parrots,  parroquets,  and  cockatoos  being 
chiefly  conspicuous.  These  are  bought  by  the  crew 
as  a  speculation,  but  most  of  them  die  on  the 
homeward  journey. 

On  the  evening  of  the  same  day  we  passed  close 
to  Cape  Coast  Castle,  whose  old  red  fort  forms  a 
picturesque  object  on  this  rather  monotonous  coast. 
Standing  as  it  does  high  above  the  sea — in  compari¬ 
son  with  the  towns  on  the  Niger  delta — it  was  diffi¬ 
cult  to  realise  its  remarkable  unhealthiness.  Next 
morning  we  stopped  to  pick  up  the  mails  at  Assinie, 
a  desertecl-looking  French  station,  consisting  of  four 
stone  European  houses,  and  a  native  village  on  a 


GRAND  BASSAM. 


329 


low  strip  of  shingle  backed  by  cocoa-palms.  I  do 
not  know  if  it  produces  any  particular  source  of 
wealth,  but  I  was  told  that  at  Axim,  a  few  miles  to 
the  east,  gold  could  actually  be  panned  out  from  the 
sand  in  its  streets.  Nevertheless  the  difficulties  of 
labour  and  the  expenses  of  white  supervision  are  so 
great,  that  no  gold-mining  company  on  this  coast 
had  hitherto  paid.  The  surf  was  so  bad  that  the 
mail-boats  were  upset  twice  while  coming  off  to  us ; 
and  as  a  view  of  the  place  which  I  got  from  the  ship 
did  not  reveal  anything  sufficiently  tempting  to 
make  me  run  the  risk  of  a  swim  among  the  sharks, 
I  stayed  on  board. 

A  few  hours’  steam  brought  us  to  Grand  Bassam, 
an  equally  uninteresting  place  of  the  same  class,  at 
which  steamers  do  not  usually  stop,  but  off  which 
we  anchored  in  consequence  of  a  signal  from  the 
shore  that  there  were  passengers  to  embark.  After 
two  or  three  narrow  escapes  and  several  duckings, 
these  arrived,  and  were  found  to  consist  of  three 
black  men,  a  black  woman  nursing  a  small  monkey, 
and  two  Frenchmen,  one  of  the  latter  of  whom  was 
so  ill  that  he  had  to  be  hoisted  on  board  in  a  tub. 
The  other  was  Captain  Binger  of  the  Infante  vie 
cle  la  Marine,  the  French  explorer  who  had  left 
Senegal  in  1887.  He  had  been  given  up  as  lost, 
and  mourned  by  his  relations,  until  some  weeks  be¬ 
fore  our  arrival  the  Governor  of  Grand  Bassam 
heard  that  there  was  a  wdiite  man  at  Kong,  a  laro-e 

o'  o 


330 


THE  LAND  OF  DEATH. 


town  about  thirty  clays’  journey  to  the  north.  On 
receipt  of  this  news,  Monsieur  Treich-Laplene — who 
was  no  other  than  the  almost  dying  man  just 
brought  on  board  —  volunteered  to  go  and  meet 
the  traveller,  and  if  necessary  assist  him.  Arrived 
at  Kong,  he  found  that  the  white  man  was  the 
missing  Captain  Binger,  and  the  two  proceeded  to 
the  coast  :  but  Monsieur  Treich  -  Laplene  got  an 
attack  of  fever  from  which  he  never  really  re¬ 
covered  ;  and  although  he  picked  up  a  little  on  the 
ship,  I  heard  that  he  died  shortly  after  his  arrival 
in  France. 

We  soon  made  the  acquaintance  of  Captain 
Binger,  who  was  a  most  agreeable  and  interesting 
companion,  and  who  helped  to  while  away  the 
monotony  of  the  voyage  by  a  narrative  of  his 
adventures.  As  it  has  since  been  published  in  his 
‘  Du  Niger  au  Golfe  de  Guinee,  le  pays  de  Kong  et 
le  Mossi,’  I  will  not  try  to  condense  it ;  but  it  was 
a  source  of  great  interest  to  me  at  the  time,  and  it 
lias  always  been  a  satisfaction  to  me  to  recall  that 
I  wras  fortunate  enough  to  hear  it  from  him  at  the 
very  moment  of  the  completion  of  his  journey. 

Considering  the  hardships  he  had  undergone,  he 
appeared  to  be  wonderfully  well,  although  he  said 
that  both  he  and  his  native  companions  had  suffered 
a  good  deal  from  fever,  chiefly  brought  on  by  hunger 
and  fatigue.  Although  the  greater  part  of  the 
country  through  which  he  had  passed  had  never 


CAPITAINE  BINGER. 


CAPTAIN  BINGER. 


331 


before  been  explored  by  a  white  man,  lie  found  that 
the  inhabitants  were  for  the  most  part  Mohamme¬ 
dans,  and  fairly  civilised,  among  the  exceptions  being 
the  Gurunga,  the  tribe  to  which  belonged  the  girl 
whom  I  have  already  mentioned.  One  chief  of  this 
tribe  was  nevertheless  remarkably  friendly,  and  in 
proof  of  his  goodwill  insisted  on  presenting  the 
traveller  with  a  handmaiden,  an  addition  to  his  small 
party  which  Captain  Binger  at  first  looked  upon  as 
anything  but  desirable.  One  of  his  native  followers, 
however,  volunteered  to  lead  her  to  the  altar,  and 
her  status  being  thus  satisfactorily  settled,  she  be¬ 
came  a  most  useful  member  of  the  expedition,  and, 
accompanied  by  her  little  monkey,  followed  it  faith¬ 
fully  through  all  its  dangers.  Her  husband  had 
come  on  board  very  lame,  having  in  his  leg  one  of 
those  unpleasant  pests  of  this  coast,  the  guinea- worm. 
I  do  not  know  how  it  enters  a  human  body,  but  hav¬ 
ing  once  lodged  itself,  it  grows  at  a  marvellous  pace, 
until  one  day  it  incautiously  protrudes  its  tail  from 
the  ulcer  which  it  has  formed.  This  habit  being 
known,  the  appearance  of  the  tail  is  anxiously 
waited  for  by  the  patient  and  his  medical  adviser, 
the  latter  of  whom  at  once  pounces  on  the  protrud¬ 
ing  member,  and  proceeds  to  wind  it  carefully  round 
a  small  piece  of  wood,  giving  it  a  slight  turn  day 
by  day,  until  the  whole  of  the  parasite  has  been 
reeled  off.  I  am  told  that  this  operation  is  one 
requiring  great  delicacy,  the  breaking  of  the  tail 


332 


THE  LAND  OF  DEATH. 


being  fatal  to  its  success,  this  being  a  very  vulner¬ 
able  part  of  the  guinea-worm,  who  after  his  decease 
makes  himself  even  more  obnoxious  than  during  his 
life  :  or  perhaps  the  proverb,  “  Once  bit,  twice  shy,” 
is  as  applicable  to  guinea -worms  as  to  the  higher 
orders  of  creation ;  and  the  intelligent  animal, 
having  been  once  treated  like  a  reel  of  cotton, 
takes  very  good  care  not  to  risk  a  repetition  of  the 
process. 

Another  of  Captain  Binger’s  men  had  been 
poisoned  by  mistake  in  one  of  the  villages  where 
they  had  slept.  He  had  taken  shelter  in  a  hut 
where  the  owner  was  sitting  down  to  his  meal,  at 
which,  according  to  the  usual  custom,  he  was 
invited  to  join,  not  knowing  that  the  food  had 
been  poisoned  for  his  host’s  benefit.  The  poison  is 
very  deadly,  but  takes  months  to  operate,  its  only 
symptom  being  a  gradual  internal  swelling. 

I  had  heard  so  much  traders’  “  shop  ”  talked  since 
I  had  been  on  the  coast,  that  I  had  begun  to  take 
quite  an  interest  in  the  matter,  and  asked  Captain 
Binger  his  views  as  to  the  advisability  of  pushing 
markets  inland.  He  seemed  to  think  that  trade 
transacted  in  the  interior  would  rarely  pay,  as  time 
being  no  object  to  the  natives,  they  are  just  as 
willing  to  bring  their  goods  to  the  coast — in  fact 
prefer  it,  as  there  they  get  better  bargains.  For 
instance,  a  piece  of  cloth  which  would  cost  them 
10s.  on  the  coast,  would  be  charged  twice  as  much 


MONKEYS. 


333 


if  the  European  merchants  had  to  take  it  some 
distance  inland. 

When  not  enjoying  Captain  Binger’s  conversa¬ 
tion,  or  dozing  in  my  deck-chair,  or  trying  to  catch 
flying  glimpses  of  the  passing  coast,  I  spent  a  good 
deal  of  my  time  watching  the  habits  of  the  many 
kinds  of  monkeys  that  were  being  taken  home 
by  the  men  as  a  speculation.  Poor  little  things ! 
Happily  a  very  large  percentage  of  them  die  on  the 
voyage,  and  are  spared  the  long  term  of  imprison¬ 
ment,  with  a  ruined  liver,  for  which  they  are 
intended.  Most  of  them  seemed  thoroughly  to 
realise  their  fate,  and  expressed  on  their  faces  as 
clearly  as  they  would  have  done  to  Professor  Garner 
with  their  lips,  their  utter  weariness  of  life.  There 
were  two  exceptions,  however,  to  the  general  rule 
of  solitary  confinement  and  boredom — a  baby  gorilla 
and  a  chimpanzee.  The  former  on  account  of  his 
value  in  Europe,  and  the  latter  from  his  superior 
intellect,  were  allowed  to  roam  about  at  will. 
Being  too  young  to  remember  his  forest  life,  the 
little  gorilla  seemed  quite  content  to  be  carried 
about  in  his  owner’s  arms,  or  to  walk  up  and  down 
holding  on  to  his  hand,  looking  just  like  a  little 
black  child  of  three  or  four  years  old.  The  poor 
little  chap  had  got  a  nasty  cough  before  we  left 
the  ship  at  Goree,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  he 
ever  lived  to  realise  the  £100  which  it  was  hoped 
he  would  fetch  at  the  end  of  the  voyage.  The 


334 


THE  LAND  OF  DEATH. 


chimpanzee  fully  acted  up  to  the  converted  black 
boy’s  maxim,  “  Me  Christian  now,  me  get  drunk  all 
same  like  master.”  The  crew  looked  upon  him 
quite  as  one  of  themselves,  to  be  bullied,  played 
with,  or  treated  to  liquor,  as  the  humour  seized 
them.  They,  however,  usually  took  the  precaution 
of  chaining  him  up  before  indulging  in  the  first 
pastime — his  temper  being  none  of  the  best, — while 
after  the  last  he  certainly  walked  away  from  his 
instructors  in  the  matter  of  gracefulness  ;  for  what¬ 
ever  other  good  points  he  may  have,  grace  is  not 
the  most  marked  characteristic  of  a  drunken  sailor. 
Yet  ugly  though  the  monkey  was — the  very  image 
of  a  sallow-faced  old  woman — he  never  for  a  moment 
lost  his  sense  of  the  picturesque. 

For  the  next  three  days  we  hugged  the  shore, 
stopping  at  every  village  where  a  signal  was  hoisted 
and  a  barrel  of  palm-oil  was  to  be  collected ;  but  as 
all  were  very  much  alike,  and  all  approached  through 
a  belt  of  breakers,  without  the  advantage  of  the 
big  English  surf  -  boats,  as  at  Accra,  in  which  to 
face  them,  I  showed  the  better  part  of  valour  and 
remained  on  board,  until  at  noon  on  the  11th  we 
anchored  off  Monrovia,  the  Liberian  capital,  a  lovely 
spot  situated  on  a  high  well-wooded  promontory  on 
the  left  bank  of  the  St  Paul  river. 

As  we  were  to  remain  here  for  some  hours,  and 
the  bar  was  a  fairly  passable  one,  we  went  ashore, 
and  were  well  rewarded  by  a  walk  through  the  most 


MONROVIA. 


MONROVIA. 


335 


remarkable  capital  that  I  have  yet  come  across, — the 
strangest  mixture  of  mushroom  growth  with  gradual 
decay,  careful  architecture  with  utter  neglect,  super¬ 
abundance  of  vegetation  with  lack  of  human  life. 
Broad,  well-laid-out  streets,  in  which  half-a-dozen 
four-in-hands  could  drive  abreast,  are  choked  with 
rank  grass,  and  occupied  by  a  few  stray  half-starved 
curs ;  broad  airy  stoeps,  under  which  the  eye  natur¬ 
ally  seeks  for  a  well-to-do  Dutch  farmer  or  mer¬ 
chant  smoking  his  pipe  and  counting  his  gains,  are 
either  deserted  and  rotting,  or  occupied  by  a  fat 
negro  lying  dozing  in  a  hammock.  Monrovia  is 
distinctly  a  good  town  gone  wrong,  and  at  first  it 
surprises  and  almost  shocks  one ;  yet  one  can  hardly 
expect  it  to  be  otherwise.  Built  in  1823  by  a  society 
of  American  philanthropists,  a  ready  -  made  negro 
population  was  despatched  from  America  for  its  occu¬ 
pation,  and  left  to  carve  out  its  own  destinies.  Now 
the  male  Liberian,  happy  in  the  possession  of  the 
title  of  Right  Honourable,  General,  or  Admiral,  rests 
in  his  hammock,  and  dreamily  ruminates  over  his 
superiority  to  the  surrounding  “  niggers,”  only  occa¬ 
sionally  wraking  up  to  discuss  some  globe-stirring 
event,  such  as  the  Franco  -  German  wTar,  during 
which,  after  a  prolonged  Cabinet  meeting,  it  was 
formally  announced  by  the  President  that  he 
“  guessed  Liberia  would  remain  neutral  ”  ! 

This  pleasant  sense  of  superiority  to  the  aborigines 
appears  to  be  wholly  due  to  a  process  of  subjective 


336 


THE  LAND  OF  DEATH. 


reasoning,  the  hard  facts  of  the  case  being  that 
the  benighted  heathen  outnumber  the  Liberians  by 
nearly  forty  to  one,  and  have  given  them  the  most 
uncompromising  thrashing  whenever  the  latter  have 
brought  such  unpleasant  subjects  as  taxation  too 
prominently  forward.  Even  the  white  trader  has, 
1  regret  to  say,  sometimes  taken  a  hint  from  the 
“  Kru  boy”  in  this  respect.  Having  noticed  two 
brass  cannon  rather  ostentatiously  placed  on  one  of 
the  coast  factories  which  we  passed,  I  inquired  the 
reason,  and  was  told  that  they  had  been  purchased 
by  the  owner  in  consequence  of  a  demand  for  taxes 
from  the  Liberian  Government,  to  whom  the  reply 
was  sent  that  it  had  better  come  and  get  them. 

Of  the  Monrovian  ladies  I  am  unable  to  speak, 
not  having  seen  one  of  them  ;  but  as  they  were  not 
asleep  in  the  stoeps,  it  is  probable  that  they  were 
hard  at  work  somewhere.  At  any  rate,  I  am  sure 
that  none  of  the  male  population  would  have  shown 
the  energy  displayed  by  our  late  visitor,  Mrs  Martha 
Ricks. 

After  wandering  about  for  some  time  with  a  vague 
sort  of  idea  that  we  must  have  missed  our  way  and 
strolled  into  one  of  the  buried  cities  of  the  Zuyder 
Zee,  we  returned  to  the  wharf,  and,  there  being  no 
boat  to  take  us  off,  sat  under  the  shade  of  a  ruined 
shed,  and  contemplated  the  famous  harbour  off  which 
a  disabled  British  war-ship  was  warned,  for  fear  she 
should  sink  and  spoil  the  approach.  At  five  that 


SIERRA  LEONE  AGAIN. 


337 


evening  we  steamed  off  again,  and  soon  got  into  a 
tornado,  whose  accompaniment  of  blinding  rain 
necessitated — at  least  so  the  Captain  said — the  fur¬ 
ther  discomfort  of  the  fog-horn,  which  kept  me 
awake  all  night,  but  which  had  the  advantage  of 
attracting  the  notice  of  the  outward-bound  ship  of 
the  same  line  commanded  by  our  Captain’s  son-in- 
law,  with  whom,  having  cast  anchor  in  mid-ocean, 
he  had  an  hour’s  chat. 

Friday  the  12th  saw  us  again  at  Sierra  Leone,  but 
too  late  at  night  for  the  health  officer  to  come  on 
board.  However,  he  turned  up  early  next  morning, 
and  took  us  across  to  the  Government  yacht 
“  Countess  of  Derby,”  which  had  just  steamed  in, 
having  on  board  the  Governor,  Captain — now  Sir 
James — Shaw  Hay,  who  had  been  on  an  expedition 
to  Sulima.  He  was  suffering  from  a  bad  attack  of 
fever,  but  nevertheless  kindly  invited  us  to  break¬ 
fast  at  Government  House,  where  we  all  repaired. 
It  is  a  large,  rather  rambling  building,  with  fine 
airy  rooms,  and  a  broad  terrace  in  front  overlooking 
the  luxuriant  garden,  and  commanding  a  fine  view 
of  the  town  and  harbour.  Yet  it  is  hardly  a  cheer¬ 
ful  abode.  Like  everything  else  about  the  place, 
it  shows  the  effects  of  damp  in  every  corner,  and 
would  certainly  give  me  the  “  blues  ”  had  I  to  live 
in  it.  We  had,  howTever,  a  most  pleasant  breakfast, 
after  which,  as  our  time  was  up,  I  was  carried  down 
to  the  pier  in  a  most  comfortable  sort  of  bath-chair, 


338 


THE  LAND  OF  DEATH. 


a  conveyance  that  bore  about  the  same  relation  to 
my  Madagascar  filanzana  that  a  dowager’s  barouche 
does  to  a  bag-man’s  gig. 

The  following  day  and  night  were  spent  at  sea ; 
and  at  sunset  on  Monday  the  1.5th  we  sighted  Goree, 
where  we  were  to  leave  the  “  Nubia  ”  and  embark  in 
aMessageries  boat  for  Bordeaux.  We  cast  anchor  at 
about  eight,  again  too  late  for  the  health  officer  to 
come  on  board,  much  to  the  annoyance  of  our  Cap¬ 
tain,  who  was  in  a  great  hurry  to  get  away,  and  who 
repeatedly  fired  off  his  gun,  but  without  producing 
the  desired  effect.  I,  on  the  contrary,  was  by  no 
means  displeased  at  the  official  reluctance  to  turn 
out,  as  I  knew  that  there  was  no  hotel  at  Goree, 
and  did  not  at  all  enjoy  the  prospect  of  a  long 
open-boat  voyage  in  the  dark  to  Dakar. 

Having  received  'pratique  early  next  morning,  we 
went  ashore  with  Captain  Binger,  first  to  Goree, 
where  we  were  entertained  by  the  maire  and  his 
mulatto  wife  while  Captain  Binger  did  some 
business,  and  then  to  Dakar,  where  we  found  a 
most  comfortable  hotel,  and  an  excellent  chef,  black 
as  a  lump  of  coal,  but  scrupulously  clean  and  neat 
in  the  regulation  white  cap  and  apron.  The  waitress 
was  of  the  same  complexion  as  himself,  but  most 
stately  and  graceful  in  her  movements.  She  wore 
on  her  head  a  red-and-blue  handkerchief,  somewhat 
like  a  turban,  with  one  of  its  corners  hanging  down 
on  the  left  side,  and  was  dressed  in  a  loose  cotton 


DAKAR. 


339 


robe,  cut  exactly  the  same  shape  as  a  surplice,  only 
instead  of  having  the  sleeves  hanging  down  to  her 
wrist,  she  had  gathered  them  on  the  top  of  her 
shoulders,  leaving  bare  her  well-shaped  arms. 

Dakar  is  divided  into  two  distinct  portions, 
the  French  and  the  native  quarters.  The  former 
has  a  remarkably  prosperous  and  well-to-do  look. 
Approaching  from  the  sea,  one  lands  on  a  broad 
stone  wharf,  lined  with  coal-sheds,  warehouses,  and 
merchants’  offices,  and  traversed  by  a  continuation 
of  the  St  Louis  Railway,  the  terminus  proper  being 
a  few  hundred  yards  down  the  shore  to  the  south. 
Round  an  open  space,  looking  down  the  wharf,  are 
the  Government  buildings  and  one  of  the  barracks ; 
while  farther  inland,  broad  well-laid-out  boulevards , 
lined  with  good  two-storeyed  houses,  extend  for  the 
best  part  of  a  mile.  Through  this  part  of  the  town 
we  took  a  stroll  with  Captain  Binger,  who  showed 
us  as  much  as  he  could  in  the  time,  as  he  was  start¬ 
ing  by  the  evening  train  for  St  Louis,  where  he 
had  to  make  arrangements  for  his  followers’  return 
to  their  home  at  Bammaku. 

After  seeing  him  off  by  train,  we  went  for  a 
further  stroll  in  the  country  ;  but  beyond  the  large 
native  town — composed  of  neat,  cleanly-kept  conical 
huts,  inhabited  by  a  good-looking  and  very  intel¬ 
ligent  people,  who  live  almost  entirely  by  fishing — 
and  the  hospital,  built  on  a  plateau  looking  towards 
Cape  Yerd,  we  did  not  find  much  to  interest  us, 


340 


THE  LAND  OF  DEATH. 


and  rather  lamented  over  the  information  we  had 
received  earlier  in  the  day,  that  the  Messageries  boat 
which  was  to  take  us  home  was  not  due  for  two 
days.  Had  she  arrived  at  once,  I  should  have  been 
so  much  nearer  home,  which  by  this  time  I  was 
quite  ready  to  reach ;  or  had  her  arrival  been 
postponed  for  a  week,  we  might  have  accepted 


Native  Town,  Dakar. 


Captain  Binger’s  invitation  to  go  with  him  to 
St  Louis.  As  it  was,  there  was  nothing  to  be  done 
but  try  to  kill  time  in  this  highly  civilised  but 
rather  uninteresting  place. 

In  their  due  course,  however,  the  hours  slipped 
away,  and  at  about  five  in  the  afternoon  of  the 
18th  we  stepped  out  of  the  shore-boat  into  the 


ADIEU  TO  THE  BLACK  MAN’S  GARDEN. 


341 


Messageries  ship  “  Portugale,”  in  which  we  were  to 
return  to  Europe. 

We  had  been  warned  that  it  was  very  necessary 
to  arrange  the  price  with  the  boatmen  beforehand, 
and  had  done  so  ;  but  they  proved  too  sharp  for  us, 
for  having  still  got  our  baggage  in  the  boat  after  we 
had  boarded  the  ship,  they  proceeded  to  ask  us  for 
more  money,  and  on  Harry  saying  that  he  would 
not  give  them  another  sou,  they  smilingly  replied 
that  they  would  take  our  things  back  with  them. 
Harry  was  furious,  and  was  just  preparing  to  spring 
into  the  boat  again  when  he  w7as  stopped  by  one  of 
the  officers,  who  said  that  the  ship  was  in  quaran¬ 
tine  owing  to  yellow  fever  at  Rio  Janeiro,  whence 
she  had  come,  and  that  no  one  could  leave  her. 
So  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  pay  up  and 
make  the  best  of  it. 

With  this  final  experience  of  the  simple  black 
man  we  bade  adieu  to  the  confines  of  his  garden, 
arrived  at  Bordeaux  on  April  26th,  sent  a  wire 
home  to  our  servants,  and  the  evening  of  Saturday 
the  27th  found  us  dining  quietly  in  our  little  house 
in  Chapel  Street,  hardly  able  to  realise  that  we  had 
ever  left  it. 


INDEX 


Accra,  289. 

Aden,  48. 

Ambasaniasy,  140. 
Ambatokaranana,  136. 
Ambatomanga,  150. 

Aniber,  Cape,  91. 

Ambinany,  210. 

Ambodinifody,  148. 
Ambohidratrimo,  1S6. 
Ambokimanga,  157. 
Ambohimitsimbina,  156. 
Ampasimbe,  137. 

Ampasoria,  201. 

Analamazaotra,  143. 
Andavakamenarana,  129. 
Andevorante,  1 29. 

Andranobe  river,  188,  190. 
Andrimbe  mountain,  197. 
Anjolokafa,  116. 

Ankay  plain,  145. 

Ankazobe,  190. 

Ankeramadinika,  149. 
Antananarivo,  151,  154. 
Antanimbarindratsontsaraka,  202. 
Antiserane,  95. 

Antoby,  190. 

Assinie,  328. 

Babay,  186. 

Barracoe,  289. 

Beforana,  140. 

Betafo,  152. 

Betsiboka  river,  210. 

Bloemhof,  264. 

Boksberg,  251. 


Bonny,  river,  299 — town,  30 
Bordeaux,  341. 

Cape  Coast  Castle,  32S. 

Cape  Town,  269. 

Chiloane,  234. 

Da;dalus  lighthouse,  9. 
Dakar,  338. 

Delagoa  Bay,  236. 

Diego  Suarez  Bay,  93. 

Dogeli,  36. 

Durban,  241. 

Elandslaagte,  245. 

Freetown,  283. 

Gaboon  river,  296. 

Goree  Island,  280,  338. 
Grand  Bassam,  329. 

Grand  Sesters,  285. 
Guardafui,  56. 

Heidelberg,  251. 

Hellville,  88. 

Hodeidah,  42. 

Hova  province,  149. 

Ikppo  river,  203,  207. 

“  lie  de  la  Lune,”  93. 

“lie  Fourban,”  103. 

“lie  Madame,”  103. 

Imerina,  142. 

Ingogo,  248. 

Inkambane,  235. 


INDEX. 


344 


Jeddah,  17. 

Johannesburg,  251,  261. 
Ju-ju  Town,  313. 

Kabary  plain,  157. 
Kamolandy  river,  198. 
Karambily,  210. 
Kimberley,  264. 

Kinajy,  193. 

Klerksdorp,  263. 

Lamu,  57. 

Lang’s  Nek,  247. 

Las  Palmas,  271. 
Libreville,  296. 

Lorenzo  Marquez,  236. 

Maattinsinzoarivo  fort,  98. 
Madagascar,  80. 
Maharidaza,  192. 

Mahela  river,  132. 

Majuba  Hill,  247. 
Makosospruit,  264. 
Maliitsy,  199. 
Manambonitra,  135. 

Manda  Island,  57. 
Mangoro  valley,  145. 
Maravoay,  214. 
Maritzburg,  241. 
Maroharona,  197. 
Miirokolosy  pass,  201. 
Massowah,  34. 
Mavetanana,  204. 

Mayotta  Island,  85. 
Michelson’s  Store,  247. 
Mojiinga,  226. 

Mombasa  Island,  53. 
Monrovia,  334. 
Moramanga,  145. 
Mozambique,  229. 

Natal,  240. 

Nosy-Bt5,  88. 

Nosy-Ve  lake,  116. 

Orotava,  276. 

Palmas,  Cape,  287. 


Pamanzi,  S6. 

Perim  Island,  46. 

“  Point  Orange,’  93. 
Potchefstroom,  263. 
Pretoria,  255. 

Prince’s  Island,  295. 
“Prunes,  Pile  des,  ’  105. 

Quilimane,  232. 

Quitta,  326. 

RasOabe  lake,  127. 

Saati,  36. 

Sainte  Marie,  103. 
Samburu,  65. 

Santa  Cruz,  276. 

Sass  Town,  285. 

Shadwan  Island,  9. 

Shelia,  57. 

Sherm  Rabigh,  16. 

Sierra  Leone,  283,  337. 
Standerton,  249. 

Suakin,  24. 

Suez,  2. 

Tabu,  287. 

Tamatave,  105. 
Tamponbohitra,  156. 
Tanimandry,  131. 

Tharoka  river,  129. 

Tor,  7. 

Transvaal,  247. 

Trinkitat,  33. 

Umgeni  rivef,  242. 

Vavony,  129. 

Venice,  1. 

“  Windsor  Castle,”  91 ,  93. 
Winnebah,  289. 

Yembo,  9. 

Zanzibar,  70. 

Zaoudzi  Island,  85. 


PRINTED  BY  WILLIAM  BLACKWOOD  AND  SONS. 


913 


C727 


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